Agric minister
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in its quest to control pests and parasites on crops, has indicated its intention to procure 97,000 litres and 14,000kg of insecticide to fight Fall Army Worm infestation this year.
According to the Ministry, effort on the part of government to fight the pestilence saved over 652,000 metric tons of maize valued at about GHC79 million.
For the current year, therefore, the priority is to reduce the Fall Army Worm infestation to its barest minimum by the relevant measures.
Hallmark
One of the hallmarks of the New Patriotic Party administration is its management of the food security situation, from an importer of basic food items, including staples like plantain, rice, maize, as well as vegetables like tomato, onions and pepper from neighbouring Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, to an exporter.
As we have witnessed under the NPP administration, led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the game has changed in our favour, not only culminating in saving huge sums of millions of dollars and CFAs, but also reserves necessary in investing in the same sector.
The picture now is that we have enough to eat all-year round at modest prices, even under the COVID-19 situation, than we have had previously or even under John Dramani Mahama when we were sold the ill-fated Savannah Accelerated Development Programme, with focus on agriculture, which yielded negative results.
The gains
The gains from the several agro initiatives include job creation along the value chains, rise in export volumes, rise in incomes and improvement in livelihoods.
We have also seen, for the first time in the history of this country, the youth, including those from our universities who had graduated in agriculture, investing in programmes supported by the government.
Additionally, that has fed into economic growth and national development, spurring a wave of agriculture-based processing needed to boost industrialisation.
Better still, we have created for ourselves, by that achievement, a global niche and credibility bank that is linking us to the movers and shakers in development and global business.
Holistic approach
So that government takes a holistic approach in managing the sector, farmers would be benefiting from supply of inputs like improved seeds and subsidised fertilisers in improving yield and improving incomes in target communities.
For the livestock sector as well, government has procured over 531,000 improved breeds of small ruminants, pigs and poultry to support economic players in that sector.
As we would admit, these gains have not come handy and without challenges. Smuggling of fertilisers and Fall Army Worm attacks on crops, particularly in the northern regions, have defeated goals and harvests we had expected in the last couple of years.
That meant a drop in incomes for farmers and the community as well as a dip in the livelihoods of residents in the affected communities.
That is why we commend government for putting in place measures to fight off the scourge of the army worm pestilence and ensure food security.
These initiatives, as is expected, should eventually help to reduce migration to urban areas, while growing economies in vulnerable countryside communities in the Middle Belt and up north.
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