The Northern Regional branch of the Ghana Agri-Input Dealers Association (GAIDA) has appealed to Agriculture Science researchers to investigative the potency of the fertilisers imported into the country.
The appeal followed several complaints by some farmers in the northern sector that the current fertilisers being sold in the area are fake and do not increase crop yield.
Mr. Mohammed Mahamud, Northern Regional Secretary of the GAIDA speaking at a workshop in Tamale last Thursday revealed that many farmers in the area were very suspicious of the fertilisers, as crop yield, continue to decline lately.
The workshop which was sponsored by the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge Fund (BUSAC) with the financial support from USAID, DANIDA and European Union, was meant to sensitise farmers on new methods to increase crop yields.
According to him many farmers in the north were beginning to question the potency and efficacy of fertilisers in the country.
“Farmers here have persistently complained about the potency and efficacy of some of the fertilisers as the crop production levels are far below expectation,” he stated.
Mr. Mahamud hinted that some of the farmers had threatened to stop buying and using fertilisers if nothing was done to ensure the potency of the fertilisers available to them.
He, therefore, challenged the agriculture science researchers to as a matter of urgency, conduct investigations efficacy of the fertilisers in order to prevent the collapse of farming in the area.
The Secretary lamented that the collapse of farming would worsen the poverty situation and that it was prudent for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to take up the matter and assist to establish the potency of the fertilisers in the market.
He argued that the investigations of the fertilisers would not only prevent the collapse of farming but would ensure food security in the country.
Mr. Mahamud urged the government to check fake and adulterated fertiliser products, appealing that it would hinder and hamper the gains and progress made through the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.
He called on the MoFA to speed up the process of establishing, the Plant and Fertiliser Fund to help curb the menace of fake and adulterated fertiliser products in the country.
FROM YAKUBU ABDUL-MAJEED, TAMALE
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