Accra, Nov. 16, GNA – Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, has said government was focused on accelerating the modernization of agriculture to transform the economy through the introduction of technology and agriculture mechanisation.
He said this when presenting the 2012 budget statement to parliament adding that due to good policies and programmes as well as the hard work of cocoa farmers and other stakeholders, Ghana had now attained the 1.0 million metric tonnes of cocoa production for the first time in the country's history ahead of the 2012 schedule.
Dr Duffuor said the producer price of cocoa was also reviewed upwards in October 2011 to GH¢3,280.00 per tonne, which was equivalent to GH¢205.00 per bag of cocoa for the 2011/2012 cocoa season.
“This price is 76.04 percent of the net F.O.B. price,” he said.
He said the main policy interventions included the provision of fertilizer subsidy, irrigation, buffer stock management, seed improvement and quality standardisation.
He said the sector had chalked major successes which included the off-loading of over 10,000 metric tonnes of maize to the market to stabilize maize prices by the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO).
Dr Duffour said the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) also provided a guaranteed market for rice, maize and soya bean to farmers during the 2011 fiscal year and as a result, the price of par-boiled rice was now 50 per cent cheaper than the average price of imported rice.
The Finance Minister said the supply of 114,160 metric tonnes of chemical fertilizers to farmers through the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme at a total cost of GH¢54.9 million as against GH¢34 million spent in 2010 was also a major improvement to the industry.
He said the production of 68 metric tonnes of maize and 30 metric tonnes of rice foundation seeds by Grains and Legumes Development Board and the establishment and operationalisation of 89 Agricultural Mechanization Service Centres (AMSECs) to increase farmer's access to agricultural mechanization services would lead to food security in the country.
GNA
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