Govt appreciates farmers’ efforts
The government is committed and determined to support mango and citrus farmers to raise the quality of their products, the Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Innovations (MESTI), Dr Musheibu Mohammed-Alfa, has assured.
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He said the mango and citrus industry had become a productive venture that earned the country foreign exchange, and for that matter, it would do everything possible to improve and sustain the industry for the farmers to realise their maximum yields.
Dr Mohammed-Alfa gave the commendation and the assurance when he addressed the National Mango Farmers Union (NMFU) and the Citrus Farmers Union at a national stakeholders’ meeting in Accra.
The meeting was on the theme “The need for a policy/strategy for a holistic and sustainable management and control of the fruit fly on mango, citrus, and vegetables in Ghana.”
He said in order to find a lasting solution to the food fly problem confronting the mango and citrus farmers currently, the government had released a grant support of GH¢311,000 from the Skills Development Fund (SDF) to fabricate production equipment in the country to produce protein-based bait food fly chemicals.
He explained that the government had acquired a five-acre land at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) for the fabrication of the equipment which was on-going.
“The government does acknowledge and appreciate the role mango and citrus industry is playing in the economy as far as foreign exchange earning is concerned, and it is ready to support in whatever way possible to enable the association sustain the industry,” the deputy minister stressed.
He said the government was taking such tangible steps to produce the food fly chemicals in the country to avoid importation of such products which costed the mango and citrus farmers a lot.
Dr Alex Egyiri Yawson of the Radiation Entomology and Pest Management Centre (REPMC) of the GAEC), in a presentation, said fruit fly caused direct danger which could lead to up to 90 to 100 per cent yield depending on fruit fly propriety, locality, variety and season.
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He said direct loss of fruit flies infestation could result in serious losses in trade value and export opportunity due to strict quarantine regulations imposed by most importing countries.
The National Chairman of the NMFU, Mr Edward K. Amanor, said the ability of Ghana to produce its own substitute bait could make a major contribution to reducing the cost and enhancing the sustainability of fruit fly control activities in the country.
He said the major constraints to set up a local commercial bait production could be associated to the lack of funds to put up the necessary infrastructure that would house the production equipment, and was grateful to the government for taking the initiative which would go a long way to assist the mango and citrus farmers.
The Director General of GAEC, Prof. B. J. B. Nyarko, in an address, advised the mango and citrus farmers to shift from traditional methods of farming to the use of modern technologies as food not radiated would be rejected on the international market.