Farmers in the Karaga District of the Northern Region who are engaged in the ongoing government’s Block Farm Project aimed at producing rice, maize and soya bean are likely to work in vain, as an estimated 2000 acres of rice plantations they have cultivated this year are being wasted on the fields due to lack of combine harvesters in the area.
According to the farmers, their rice plantations were ready for harvesting but they were finding it highly difficult to access combine harvester services. The Karaga district they noted had only one small combine harvester which was capable of harvesting a minimum of five acres daily.
Meanwhile, some of the farmers have cultivated between 300 and 700 acres of rice and maize, but the produce are being destroyed by cattle and birds.
The disappointed farmers made this known when the new District Chief Executive (DCE) for Karaga, Sulemana Hussein Issah toured the Block Farm Project sites at Sadugu and interacted with the farmers.
It was discovered that some of the farmers have now engaged the services of hired labour to do the harvesting with sickles, which they said was much expensive and time consuming.
One of the farmers, Mahama Ayamba, Chief Executive Officer of Dolba Farmers Group expressed fear that a large quantity of the rice could go wasted in view of the fact that he hired labour to harvest his 110 acres plantation.
Mr. Mahama Ayamba also complained about the road network leading to their plantations which he said had contributed to their post harvest loses in the previous years.
He therefore appealed to government to support farmers in the area with combine harvesters and tractors to enable them meet their objective of producing enough rice for domestic and export purposes.
The District Chief Executive, Hon. Sulemana Hussein Issah said government was aware of the difficulties they had been battling with and assured them of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s move to find rapid solutions to their problems.
The Karaga DCE however emphasized the need for the farmers to invest in their children’s education.
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