TECHNOSERVE, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, has held a field day for farmers in three communities in the Upper East Region.
The communities are Tilli in the Bawku West District, Adaboya in the Bongo District and Baseongo in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The field day was to demonstrate improved varieties of maize, cowpea, soybeans and groundnuts to the farmers.
The improved varieties included the hybrid maize (mamaba), cowpea, (apagbaala), soybeans (enyidaso) and groundnuts (nkatiesari).
Within the past six seasons, 13 maize demonstration fields sited in 11 locations, namely Binaba, Zebilla and Googo (Bawku West District), Pwalugu and Shega (Talensi/Nabdam District), Azumsapeliga (Bawku Municipality), Songo (Garu Tempane District), Nyangania and Old Tono (Kassena Nankana District) and Chuchuliga (Builsa District), have witnessed the successful demonstration of those four varieties with their attendant high yield and nutritional value.
Addressing farmers at Tilli, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia, commended Technoserve and its partners for complementing the efforts of the government to assist farmers in line with its avowed aim of developing agriculture, one of the factors to propel the country into a middle-income status by 2015.
She urged the farmers to take advantage of the demonstration to enhance production to feed the nation.
"It is my conviction that this will certainly bring more money into your pockets and also earn the country more foreign exchange," she said.
Mrs Chigabatia encouraged the farmers to share their experience with other farmers to ensure early and total adoption of the new improved crop varieties.
The Country Director of Technoserve, Mr Nick Railston-Brown, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mrs Ruth Wallace, the Programme Manager, said Technoserve had been involved in developing models that help rural producers to increase production in order to enjoy economic rewards.
"We at Technoserve believe that it is better and more sustainable to teach our beneficiaries how to fish rather than to give out fish; this is why we have gathered them to demonstrate to them a technology that will enable them to increase production for enhanced household food security," he said.
Mr Railston-Brown announced that Technoserve had since the beginning of the current farming season supported 500 farmers with farming inputs, including seeds, fertiliser and extension services, to plant maize, groundnuts and soybeans.
The strategy, he explained, would facilitate the adoption of improved maize production technology among the farmers, adding that the farmers receiving the support would also be assisted to market their produce through an inventory credit programme.
The District Chief Executive for Bawku West, Mr Desmond Bugbilla, urged the beneficiaries to blend the knowledge learnt with their old system of farming to increase their yield.
The officer in charge of the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, Dr Roger Kanton, in an interview stated that the demonstration over the years had proven to be beneficial as farmers were now better exposed to better way of doing things to achieve
optimum results.
He encouraged the farmers to put the skills they had learnt into practice to enhance their farming activities.
The Deputy Regional Minister and other invited guests were later taken on an inspection tour of the fields to observe the success of the programme.
The communities are Tilli in the Bawku West District, Adaboya in the Bongo District and Baseongo in the Bolgatanga Municipality.
The field day was to demonstrate improved varieties of maize, cowpea, soybeans and groundnuts to the farmers.
The improved varieties included the hybrid maize (mamaba), cowpea, (apagbaala), soybeans (enyidaso) and groundnuts (nkatiesari).
Within the past six seasons, 13 maize demonstration fields sited in 11 locations, namely Binaba, Zebilla and Googo (Bawku West District), Pwalugu and Shega (Talensi/Nabdam District), Azumsapeliga (Bawku Municipality), Songo (Garu Tempane District), Nyangania and Old Tono (Kassena Nankana District) and Chuchuliga (Builsa District), have witnessed the successful demonstration of those four varieties with their attendant high yield and nutritional value.
Addressing farmers at Tilli, the Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia, commended Technoserve and its partners for complementing the efforts of the government to assist farmers in line with its avowed aim of developing agriculture, one of the factors to propel the country into a middle-income status by 2015.
She urged the farmers to take advantage of the demonstration to enhance production to feed the nation.
"It is my conviction that this will certainly bring more money into your pockets and also earn the country more foreign exchange," she said.
Mrs Chigabatia encouraged the farmers to share their experience with other farmers to ensure early and total adoption of the new improved crop varieties.
The Country Director of Technoserve, Mr Nick Railston-Brown, in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mrs Ruth Wallace, the Programme Manager, said Technoserve had been involved in developing models that help rural producers to increase production in order to enjoy economic rewards.
"We at Technoserve believe that it is better and more sustainable to teach our beneficiaries how to fish rather than to give out fish; this is why we have gathered them to demonstrate to them a technology that will enable them to increase production for enhanced household food security," he said.
Mr Railston-Brown announced that Technoserve had since the beginning of the current farming season supported 500 farmers with farming inputs, including seeds, fertiliser and extension services, to plant maize, groundnuts and soybeans.
The strategy, he explained, would facilitate the adoption of improved maize production technology among the farmers, adding that the farmers receiving the support would also be assisted to market their produce through an inventory credit programme.
The District Chief Executive for Bawku West, Mr Desmond Bugbilla, urged the beneficiaries to blend the knowledge learnt with their old system of farming to increase their yield.
The officer in charge of the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, Dr Roger Kanton, in an interview stated that the demonstration over the years had proven to be beneficial as farmers were now better exposed to better way of doing things to achieve
optimum results.
He encouraged the farmers to put the skills they had learnt into practice to enhance their farming activities.
The Deputy Regional Minister and other invited guests were later taken on an inspection tour of the fields to observe the success of the programme.
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