Ensure proper sorghum drying to meet standard - Agronomist urges farmers

Sorghum farmers have been advised to ensure that their produce is properly dried to meet industrial standards.

An Agricultural Advisor to SNV, Nelson Gulbi, who gave the advice, said if sorghum and other grains were not properly dried, they were easily exposed to moulds and other mycotoxins, making it very difficult for them to be bought by aggregators and other companies.

He stated that one of the major requirements of the brewery companies, particularly Guinness Ghana Brewery Limited (GGBL), was for the grains to be in good condition to enhance their production.

Training

Mr Gulbi was speaking during a pre-harvest and post-harvest training for some sorghum farmers in three districts in the Upper East Region. The beneficiary farmers were drawn from Sandema in the Builsa North District, Nangodi in the Nabdam District and Bongo in the Bongo District.

The training formed part of the implementation of the Partnership for Sustainable Sorghum Sourcing in Ghana project by SNV, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) with funding from GGBL.

The five-year project to assist farmers in shoring up sorghum production is being implemented in the five northern regions, namely, Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Savanna and North-East.

He stated that the improper drying of sorghum and other grains leading to the development of moulds, often led to the rejection of such produce by aggregators and other companies, and therefore entreated the farmers to take the necessary steps to ensure that their commodities were properly dry to meet the demands of the market.

Dry card

He stressed that the dry card would enable the farmers to interpret the level of dryness of their grains for the next line of action, saying “after putting some of the grains in a tight container and with a relative humidity of 65 and below, it means the grains are dry.

“Once the grains are between a relative humidity of 35 and 65, it means they are dry and the farmer can go ahead to store it for onward sale or future consumption,” he said.

The Management and Information Officer, Department of Agriculture, Builsa North Municipality, Sualihu- Abdul Gafafu, in a remark, underscored the need for the farmers to view their enterprise as a business.

He therefore urged them to embrace any training and innovation tailored towards safeguarding their produce and enabling them to earn more income to better their living conditions.

The District Director of Agriculture, Nabdam District, Rasheed Imoro, welcomed the training by SNV, saying it would go a long way to equip the farmers with the requisite knowledge to properly keep their produce.

Writer’s email; gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh