Dr. Eric Owusu Adjei of the Soil Research Institute (SRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has called on government to take deliberate steps to organize plantation crops the same way it had handled cocoa.
According to the soil scientist, if other crops such as cassava, oil palm and rubber among others are properly organized, not only are the crops going to create employment for the teeming unemployed youth of this country, but it will also help reduce poverty significantly.
Dr. Owusu Adjei’s call, which was published by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) under the headline: “Organize plantation crops for commercial purposes”, Dr. Adjei said cassava, oil palm and rubber should be taken care of, the same way as it is being done with cocoa by the Cocobod.
The Chronicle couldn’t agree more with the soil Scientist.
This is because if cassava, oil palm and rubber are given the same kind of care and attention given to cocoa through Cocobod, the three plantation crops would grow in leaps and bounds and support the local economy.
Cocobod was established to encourage the production of cocoa, coffee and sheanut, as well as initiate programmes aimed at controlling pests and diseases of cocoa, coffee and sheanut.
It was also set up to undertake and encourage the processing of cocoa, coffee, sheanut and cocoa waste, with the aim of adding value for export and local consumption, as well as undertake, promote and encourage scientific research aimed at improving the quality of cocoa, coffee, sheanut and other tropical crops.
Cocobod is furthermore responsible for the regulation of the internal marketing of cocoa, coffee and sheanut, as well as securing the most favourable arrangements for the purchase, grading and sealing, certification, sale and export of cocoa, coffee and sheanut.
Due to the special role Cocobod plays for the production of cocoa, the crop has become the number one foreign exchange earner for the country.
Even though, the entire agricultural sector is a major contributor to Ghana’s economy, contributing about 45 percent to our Gross Domestic Products (GDP), cocoa alone is responsible for 25 percent of the country’s GDP.
It is against this backdrop that The Chronicle is adding its voice to the call of Dr. Adjei on the government to pay special attention to other plantation crops such as cassava, oil palm and rubber.
The paper believes that when special bodies are set up for these crops and proper care given to them, they will not only expand their production volume, but they will also create jobs for the youth and reduce poverty.
When former President John Agyekum Kufour introduced the Presidential Special Initiative on Cassava during his tenure of office, he provided financial and technical know-how to about 25,000 farmers to grow the crop for processing into high grade industrial starch.
If the process had continued to date, The Chronicle is of the opinion that the cassava sub-sector would have blossomed and become a force to reckon with in the Agricultural sector of the Ghanaian economy.
The government must do whatever it takes to revive the rubber industry, especially at this time that prospects for the crop looks huge, and the fact that global demand for natural rubber had been on the increase, as the world projects to hit 15 million tonnes by 2020.
It is the hope of The Chronicle that the government also revives the Ghana Oil Palm Development Association (GOPDA) to help grow the oil palm sub-sector, which was among the world’s versatile raw materials, accounting for more than half of the global import and export trade of all vegetable oils.
The post A well developed agric sector will address unemployment, reduce poverty appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
Dr. Eric Owusu Adjei of the Soil Research Institute (SRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has called on government to take deliberate steps to organize plantation crops the same way it had handled cocoa. According to the soil scientist, if other crops such as cassava, oil palm and rubber among […]
The post A well developed agric sector will address unemployment, reduce poverty appeared first on The Chronicle - Ghana News.
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