Manhyia (B/A), Aug. 8, GNA - The Deputy Regional Extension Manager of Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Mr. Samuel Ankamah has urged cocoa farmers to fully embrace the new interventions being implemented by COCOBOD.
Mr Ankamah made the call when he addressed cocoa farmers at a rally held at Manhyia in the Dadiesoaba District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
Mr Ankamah said the new COCOBOD interventions which included Cocoa Farm Rehabilitation, Hand Pollination, Cocoa Farms Irrigation programme, Cocoa Disease and Pest Control as well as Free Hybrid Seedlings Distribution Exercise, Subsidized Fertilizer Programme and Cocoa Consumption, could directly increase production and improve the sector.
He said the cocoa sector challenges directly linked to cocoa crop diseases and over aged trees required farmers to adopt good agronomic practices (GAPs).
Mr. Kenneth Osei Ampofo, the Public Affairs Officer of COCOBOD, said the drastic fall in the price of cocoa on the world market had been devastating to the cocoa industry and there was the need to increase production to make up for the loss in cocoa revenues.
He explained that one of the ways to reduce the continuous fall in world cocoa price as identified by the Board was to locally process at least 50 per cent of Ghana’s production for export and also to increase local cocoa consumption.
Nana Osei Adusa, a district cocoa farmer, advised farmers to see farming as a business venture and commit the needed funds to improve and sustain their investment.
He challenged cocoa farmers not to wait for government and COCOBOD’s support at all times but to take the initiative by getting inputs from their own resources to apply them on their farms on time to tackle cocoa farm challenges.
GNA
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