Army worm infestation affects yields of NSS farm at Dawhenya

The National Service Scheme has harvested about 1,000 mini-bags of maize from its farm at Dawhenya, falling short of the expected 4,000 bags it had envisaged for the year.

The NSS has attributed the low yields to the army worm infestation that destroyed a portion of the farm this year.

According to the acting Executive Director of the NSS, Mr Mustapha Ussif, who conducted newsmen round the farm at Dawhenya in Accra, his outfit had committed a lot of funds into the project.

“We put in a lot of money because we were not expecting that the farm would be attacked by army worms,” he stated.

Produce

The director explained that the harvested maize would be sold on competitive pricing basis to the Buffer Stock Company Limited, while the rest would be used to prepare animal feed for the husbandry project of the NSS.

That, according to him, would help to defray the extra cost incurred in running the farm project.

He commended the government for approving an amount of Gh¢25 million to expand the project next year.

 Mr Mustapha expressed the hope that service personnel working on the farm would be encouraged to pursue it as a career.

“The purpose of your posting to the farm is not just to come and do your service and go, but to learn certain basic skills in farming. Hopefully after national service, you will be able to set up your own farms,” he advised.

Challenges

Among the challenges identified at the project site was the lack of accommodation.

Others included low wages for labourers on the farmland, resulting in high labour turnover.

Mr Mustapha promised to notify the management of the scheme on the issue and if possible set a new wage for the labourers.

“I am not going to compromise on their safety; I will make sure that they are comfortable wherever they are being deployed to so that they can support the project wholeheartedly,” he assured.

 Incentives

A service person at the project site, Mr Botti Sampson Newton, suggested that as a way of encouraging more youth into agriculture, the government should provide more incentives to service personnel deployed to the agric sector, especially in the rural areas.

“The government should try as much as possible to provide more allowances for those sent to farms,” he said.