Farmers on a field in the district
Some farmers in Fumbisi in the Builsa South District of the Upper East Region have resorted to the use of manure from cow dank, instead of using the subsidized fertilizers under the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme.
Their problem is the scarcity of the cow dank in their communities since the owners and herdsmen prefer keeping their cattle far away to graze. In the past, there had been misunderstanding between farmers and cattle owners because the cattle destroyed crops that were yet to be harvested.
A member of a youth group, who are helping one another to weed their individual farms, said “this farming season, we are not using fertilizer from the Planting for Food and Jobs and we hoping to get good yield with the application of the little manure on our farms”.
According to Paul Ayormah, he and his friends do not have money to pay for the subsidized cost of the Planting for Food and Jobs fertilizer and wants government to go back to the approach it used last year.
Last farming season, farmers were given the opportunity to pay half of the subsidized cost of fertilizers and after harvesting and selling their produce, they paid the remaining half. Unfortunately, a large number of farmers were not able to pay their outstanding cost for last year.
The Builsa South District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Samuel Azumah Yakubu, told DAILY GUIDE in an interview in Fumbisi that the government had adopted the new approach due to lessons learnt from last farming season and so far, the number of farmers who had accepted the new approach and were coming to the district office for coupons was encouraging.
Touching on the expected harvest this year, Mr. Yakubu said there would be a good harvest, but couldn’t promise a bumper harvest due to some negative factors.
He mentioned the fall armyworm infestations and delayed rainy period but was hopeful that the harvest would not be bad.
When asked if the district office was able to reach farmers with information on the management of the fall armyworms, the district agriculture director disclosed that the district has only two agriculture extension officers who are doing their best to educate farmers with the help of three national service personnel.
Mr. Yakubu wants farmers in the district and across the country to take farming seriously and see it as a business which needs to be protected from collapse.
FROM: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Fumbisi