Some vegetable farmers at the training session
FOLLOWING the recent ban on vegetable exports from Ghana to the European Union (EU), some selected vegetables farmers in the Central, Greater Accra and Volta regions have received training in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to enable them cultivate quality and healthy products for the export and local markets.
Vegetable exports from Ghana failed to comply with EU phyto-sanitary laws even after the EU had lifted a ban on the exports on 31st October, 2017.
Held on the theme: “Integrated Pest Management for Quality Vegetables Production”, 10 nucleus farmers selected from various farmers’ associations in each of the three regions were taken through a three-day training of trainers (TOT) course on effective IPM.
The participants cultivate chilli pepper, tomatoes, okra, eggplants, cucumber and others. In the end, the 30 trained farmers are expected to roll out the training to cover 300 more farmers within the intervention areas.
The training was organized by the Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana (VEPEAG) and supported by GIZ, the German Agency for International Cooperation, in partnership with Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
There were a lot of interventions by Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) which led to the lifting of the ban. Greater part of the problem had to do with pests and disease management. VEPEAG approached GIZ to help train their farmers on IPM, which is part of the mission of the association.
In an interview, Lydia Baffour-Awuah, an agricultural expert with GIZ, said “the farmers are used to resorting to chemicals but we believe IPM is the best approach. The use of chemical should be the last resort after all other interventions have failed. We are concerned with the health and safety of the farmers and consumers. We need to educate farmers on the proper use of chemicals,” Ms Baffour-Awuah stated.
The trainer, Charles Mintah, a food safety and agribusiness consultant, informed the farmers that pests were the main cause of low yields on the fields of the farms, so all efforts should be made to minimize their occurrence. He taught the farmers how to undertake credible and effective scouting to detect pests and diseases on their farms.
Joseph Tontoh, the President of VEPEAG, said “the export business is complicated so the training was organized so farmers can be abreast of new trends in pest management. Farmers should adopt optional methods of managing pests such as IPM and minimize the use of chemicals. But when the need arises, they should use the right pesticides.”
A business desk report