FARMERS TO INCREASE YIELDS WITH NEW BIOLOGICAL FERTILIZER 15 /02/2018


                                                                                                                                                        Farmers in seven districts of the Upper East Region are to increase their incomes from legumes cultivation with the introduction of a new biological fertilizer, simply known as ‘inoculants’. The beneficiary districts are Bongo, Builsa North and Builsa South, Pusiga, Nabdam, Binduri and the Garu-Tempane district. 
 
Some top-level researchers from the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute [SARI] introduced the inoculant and how it works, to some selected agric extension agents, agro-based NGOs, farmers, the media and agro-input dealers at a day’s training held in Bolgatanga. The inoculant, according to the experts, has already been tried elsewhere in the country with huge results as compared to the application of traditional fertilizers.

This new fertilizer is a product of Ghana’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research [CSIR] and its partner, SARI based in the Northern Region of Ghana and a foreign collaborator, the EMBRAPA Agrobiology of Brazil. The inoculant is capacitated to almost double the yields of leguminous crops such as cow pea, groundnuts and soya beans which comes cheaper than application of traditional fertilizers. The on-farm trials of the inoculant is being implemented under the M-Boss Project and it spans from 2017 to 2020 by which time majority of farmers are expected to adopt its use as a scale-up to increased yields.

In his presentation, Rev. Dr. Benjamin D.K. Ahiabor of SARI warned against using an inoculant for a crop it is not prescribed to be used on stressing that, one cannot achieved any impact with such wrongful application. He stated that the use of inoculants is the way to go especially, for farmers in rural Ghana because it costs less to use and yet doubles the yield of crops when applied properly.

Dr. Ahiabor disclosed that the project strategy is to among other things train Agric staff on inoculant production and the rigorous quality controls involved in the process and also undertake farmers' outreach campaigns to create a better understanding of the intervention.

Meanwhile Dr. Mathias Fosu, also a researcher at SARI, earlier on took the participants through a field demonstration such as mapping out and preparation of the farm area. He entreated the AEAs to strictly follow the protocols regime regarding the production and use of the inoculant since every step was very important. He also said part of their duties will be to identify and secure land for the field demonstration and also organise labour for both the planting and harvesting.

Dr. Fosu however said the Project will cater for the cost of ploughing or harrowing, provide inputs and other incidentals that may become necessary in the process. He said for instance that, sowing must be done in rows while it was also the responsibility of the AEAs to explain to farmers the need to plant in rows and not haphazard. 

He charged the extension officers to supervise the inoculant applications and also ensure that the farm lay out was correct while they will in addition, collect data for use by project staff. He said for example, AEAs must be present on the day of planting to make sure that appropriate spacing is observed. At the end, harvests from the inoculated and non-inoculated fields will be compared so as to allow for farmers to see the results and make an informed choice for inoculants.

The SARI team is expected to hold similar training sessions at other locations across Ghana in order to lay a firm foundation for the scale up.

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