Block Farming Project making headway

About 1,600 metric tons of rice seeds produced by selected seed farmers under the block farming projects had been bagged and dispatched to the various seed processing factories to be processed for use by farmers across the country. The 40,000 bags of unconditional Jasmine 85 perfumed rice seeds, would be taken through a certification process at the Food Inspection Unit of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) so that those that could not meet the required quality standard were discarded and use as animal feed among other purposes. The National Coordinator for the Block farming Project, Mr. Emmanuel Akuna who made the disclosure in an interview with Radio Ghana at Tono in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region said frantic efforts are being made by farmers to cultivate more rice seeds for processing. He indicated that the block farming project is making headway since it has helped improved the living standards of people engage under the project. And that most farmers engaged in the production of rice and other food varieties had been supported with farm machinery to improve their yield. Indeed a visit by Radio Ghana to the Tono silo site saw some long trucks waiting to convey bags of rice to the various processing factories. Mr. Akuna stressed that plans are underway to cut down on rice production to engage in other productions such as maize and soya beans. This, he explained, would go a long way to boost the production of maize and other cereals for consumption. The move he further said would help address the difficulties associated with the cultivation of rice seeds and mentioned inadequate tractors and combine harvesters as some of the major challenges. On payment for farmers working under the block farming project, Mr. Akuna said vouchers with bank cheques are made readily available and that payment is effected for beneficiary farmers. According to him anomalies leading to the delay of the payment have been resolved stressing that farmers are delighted over the payment. Mr. Akuna assured the public of government’s determination to improve upon the block farming project by engaging more youth for the purpose of poverty reduction. He said agriculture remains the backbone of the nation and that efforts must be made to ensure its sustainability. Mr. Akuna however encourage the youth to take advantage of the block farming project to improve upon their lives.
GBC END IA/