128 Farmers Awarded In Wa-East District

A-68-Year old farmer from Mensah-Krom Mr.Kwadwo Oteng Agyei has been crowned the overall 2018 Best Farmer out of 128 awardees in the Wassa-East District of the Western Region.

He took home a tri-cycle,1 knapsack sprayer,wellington boots and a spraying machine.

Mr.Agyei who established farms in 2012 till date,has 230 acres of para-rubber plantation,52 acres of cocoa,30 acres of pineapple,20 acres of plaintain,12 acres of banana and 6.7 acres of coconuts.

The rest are 12 acres of cocoyam,2 acres of cassava,15 acres of maize,4 acres of tomatoes.1 acre of pepper and 1 acre of garden eggs.

In animal husbandry,Mr.Agyei also has 20 goats and 120 local fowls.

A-52-Year old woman,Madam Lucy Ackaah from Wassa-Ekutuase was also adjudged the Best Female farmer in the District.

She also received a gas cylinder,a mist-blower,wellington boots and 4 machetes as her award.

Other awardees also received precious items such as bicycles,spraying machines,a deep-freezer,wellington boots,machetes,knapsack sprayers,gas cylinders among others.

This year's event was unique as it witnessed variety of activities namely a gala competition,food fair,HIV/AIDS test,education to ECG pre-paid meters customers,exhibition of farm products and a live band music to showcase Wassa-East as a 'Model Rising District" in the Western Region.

Addressing the gallant farmers claded in green T-Shirts with the inscription,"i'm a Proud Farmer",on the national theme,"Agriculture:Moving Ghana Beyond Aid",the District Chief Executive(DCE),Mr.Arthur Wilson saluted all farmers in the District,80% of whom are gainfully employed in Agriculture for their immense contribution to food security and food sufficiency to feed the District.

He reminded farmers to use Agriculture to push Ghana to a level of development to actualize the Ghana Beyond Aid policy espoused by President Nana Akufo Addo.

Mr.Wilson asked farmers to embrace Agricultural activities as a kind of business to make the sector more booming and attractive.

He said government recognizes Agricultural pursuits as pivotal to the nation hence it has outlined a litany of policies and initiatives to boost Agricultural production and improve the living conditions of the citizenry.

Mr.Wilson mentioned the artificial pollination and mass spraying exercise of cocoa as special interventions to boost cocoa production.

He hinted of consolidating the planting for food and jobs and planting for export and rural development programmes in January 2019 to create employment avenues for farmers and produce more food to feed the nation.

The DCE announced that seedling factories would be established in the District for farmers to plant the required seedlings and increase the strength of extension officers

He disclosed later in an interview that the Assembly would assist farmers to venture into mechanized system of farming.

The District Director of Agriculture,Mr.Kofi Ayiah said food was in abundance in the country due to prudent and pragmatic interventions adopted by government in recent times

He appealed to farmers to liaise with extension officers to visit their farms regularly and stand the chance of winning awards.

Mr.Ayiah disabused the notion that farmers were poor saying that elsewhere on the globe,farmers were well to do and advised farmers to adopt positive working attitudes.

The Member of Parliament for the area,Mr.Isaac Adjei Mensah,thanked traditional rulers for their support to farmers.

He advised farmers to "pool resources together and form cooperative unions but do away with the politics of NDC and NPP'.

In an interview,the overall District Best farmer,Mr.Agyei,urged farmers to unite to farm on large scale to increase their base.

He appealed to government to make storage facilities available to farmers.