Farmers under government’s Planting for Food and Jobs, PFJ, in the Upper West Region will receive their certified improved seeds on time for planting.
This is despite the loss of more than 120 metric tonnes of maize seeds from farms in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa and Sissala West Districts. The cost of the damages has been estimated to about ¢600,000.00.
Speaking to GBC at Wa, the Director of Operations for Antika Farms, a registered seed supplier under the Planting for Food and Jobs, Seidu Abdulai Mubarik, said despite the losses, the organisation still has enough seeds to meet the 1000 metric tonne quota given by managers of the PFJ in the Upper West Region.
“Last year, we [Antika Farms] did a little over a thousand metric tonnes of seed. This year, our estimations were 1,700 metric tonnes of seed. About 90 percent of this goes into the Planting for Food and Jobs.”
“This year, Antika was given close to 1,000 metric which means that in the Upper West Region, farmers [under PFJ] would get their seeds at the right time and prices as government requires,” he disclosed.
Mr Mubarik was quick to add that other farmers and distributers outside the PFJ who rely on Antika Farms might face few challenges with shortage of seeds.
Touching on the cost of damages, the Director of Operations at Antika Farms said an excess of ¢85,000.00 was invested in the 80 acre farmland with expected returns of about ¢600,000.00. He said out of the total figure, more than 450,000 would have gone into the pockets of farmers and farm-hands.
Under the Planting for Food and Jobs Program in the Upper West Region, the Department of Agriculture has outsourced the production of maize seeds to the seed growers. One of such seed growers is Antika Farms whose Founder emerged as the 2019 2nd Runner-up National Best Farmer.
The Director of Operations for Antika Farms, Seidu Abdulai Mubarik described this year’s losses as unprecedented. Mr Mubarik said rains lasted until early November thus delaying the harvest of the maize seeds from the farms. He added that intensity of the Harmattan also contributed the quick spread of the fires that consumed the farm produce.
Mr Mubarik appealed to government to come to their aid while supporting stakeholders like the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and urged the various MMDAs to intensify sensitisation of residents on the prevention and management of bushfires.
The DBI District Director of Agriculture, Mahama Salifu, said bushfires on farms threaten food security in the region while impoverishing farmers.
“Seed production is very costly. This quantity of seeds that have been lost, if you quantify it, it is very huge,” Mr Salifu stressed.
Mr Salifu said to address bushfire problems adequately, stakeholders need to do more than just sensitisation of residents.
“We are now calling on the Assembly [DBI District Assembly] so that we can formulate some by-laws in conjunction with Traditional Authorities so that culprits that are caught can be punished because the education has been done,” he explained.
Mr Salifu called on residents to be ‘each other’s keeper’ to prevent the quick spread of bushfires.
Story filed by Mark Smith.
