AGRICULTURE

SEKYERE K: "MOFA/JICA organizes field trip for four MMDAs
The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) are jointly implementing Phase II of the Sustainable Development of Rain-Fed Lowland Rice Production Project (TENSUI 2) in Ashanti and Northern Regions.

Date Created : 8/28/2019 6:55:20 AM : Story Author : Omono Asamoah/Ghanadistricts.com

Some twenty (20) Districts in the Ashanti Region and fifteen (15) in the Northern Region have been selected to benefit from this technical assistance programme.

The overall goal of the project is to increase domestic rice production.

The beneficiary districts have been grouped into cycles for effective implementation of the project.

As part of the project implementation for 2019, a sensitization field trip was organized for the 4th batch of the districts called Cycle 4 districts to join the project in Ashanti Region.

The Cycle 4 MDAs are Bosome Freho, Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipal and Atwima Nwabiagya North.



The MMDCEs with their respective Coordinating Directors, Agric Directors and Crops Officers, and Ashanti Regional Agricultural Development Unit took part in the field trip.

The objectives of this sensitization trip were to give participants the opportunity to observe the improved rice cultivation technology and to also help decision makers to understand the importance of allocating budget and releasing funds on time for the agricultural sector especially for demo plot establishment.

Currently, a sensitization field has been established at Dadease, a community in the Sekyere Kumawu district to serve as a case study to farmers that aspire to jump into the rice cultivation.



At the event, the Ashanti Regional Director for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Rev John Manu stated emphatically that the support of the central government to agriculture is unprecedented in the history of the various successive government.

According to him, the government of the day had prioritized agriculture as the engine of growth therefore it is prepared to invest extensively to redefine the scope of agriculture for the nation and in that course all the needed logistics to Agric officers are also provided as well as inputs to farmers.



At the event the DCE for the area Samuel Addai Agyeikum also appealed to the government to support farmers in the district with requisite farming machinery so that they could go extra mile.

He explained that, so far 100acres of rice plantation had be cultivated by farmers in the area therefore processing machines would be needed to help sustain rice production in the district.