THE country is expected to record an increase in the production of four kinds of cereals for this year's farming season to boost food security
The cereals, whose combined production is expected to increase by 44 per cent over the percentage increases of previous years, are maize, rice, millet and sorghum.
Mr Samuel Oku, acting Director of Statistics, Research and Information Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), who announced this at a regional conference on agricultural and food prospects in West African countries held in Accra, said maize recorded 1.6 million tonnes for the 2008/09 farming season as against 1.47 million tonnes for 2007/08, while rice production was 302,000 tonnes, which is less than the expected 356,000, with millet recording 232,000 tonnes instead of the projected 144,000.
Mr Oku said sorghum, cultivated in the savannah regions of the country, registered 330,000 tonnes last season and is expected to increase production to 370,000.
He attributed the increases in the production of the four cereals to favourable rainfall pattern and the number of interventions by the government, which included credit facilities and improved seeds to farmers.
Mr Mohammed Yahya Quid, Director General of Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in Sahel and West Africa, said apart from Ghana, Benin, The Gambia and Togo, which recorded increases in cereals, Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and the Cape Verde were expected to record decreases this farming season.
He said because of the severity of floods in the countries that recorded decreases, the overall production of the West African region for 2009/10 was also expected to decrease to 48,246,000 tonnes compared to last season.
Mr Quid said households' food situation was, however, improving progressively within the sub-region due to the supply of food on the markets after early harvests.
No comments:
Post a Comment