Sakoti, (U/E)-Ghana, Sept. 22, GNA – Mr Rasheed Imoro, the Nabdam District Director of Agriculture, has called on Non-Governmental Organizations, (NGOs), philanthropists, and individuals to invest in agriculture in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
According to him, the district, with its agriculture-friendly vast land, has the potential for the cultivation of soya beans, maize, and sorghum, among other crops, to contribute to the country’s food basket and ensure food security.
He said the land was fertile, but the continuous use of traditional seeds and outmoded farming methods had denied farmers good yields over the years.
Mr Imoro was speaking to farmers at Sakoti about the Sustainable Soya bean Production in Northern Ghana (SSPiNG) Project, being implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in partnership with Yara Ghana and Excellence in Agronomy.
Using demonstration farms, the farmers were taken through maize-soya intercropping which would be beneficial to the maize crop and boost yield.
The project is aimed at building the capacities of farmers to enable them to adopt the strategy of intercropping by ensuring proper site selection, adequate land preparation, ploughing and selection of certified seeds and using the sowing technique, among others.
It also offered farmers the opportunity to learn about the handling, storage, and application of inoculant and yara fertilizer, to increase soya bean grain and maize yield.
Sakoran Zanbok Kom, the Tidan (land owner) of the Sakoti Traditional Area, said he was inspired by the innovation and appealed for the continuation of the project to build the capacity of farmers.
“I am particularly enthused by this innovation, if I was told that there will be a land that can make these great yields in Sakoti here, I would have doubted because the same land that was cropping a single crop is now cropping two, some three, and the plants are even bigger than our own,“ he stated.
“It is my appeal that this project continues to build the capacities of farmers to ensure food security and empower farmers financially, “ he added.
Mr Tenga George, a farmer, thanked the project implementers and sponsors and said it was an eye-opener that should be continued, to benefit the farmers in the Nabdam District.
A total of eight communities, including Sakoti, Nangodi, and Zanlerig-Gane, among others, benefited from the project.
