Agriculture operates only 20 per cent of its potential

Agriculture in Ghana operates at only 20 per cent of its potential because of declining soil fertility, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) said on Thursday.

Opening a workshop on the establishment of fertiliser control systems for Ghana, Chief MOFA Director Dr Samuel K. Dapaah said, " most of the soils are inherently low in organic matter and fertility to support fertility all year round sedentary agriculture."

Despite slow growth, he said, agriculture is crucial to Ghana's economy. It contributes about 40 per cent of the gross national product, employs about 50 percent of the labour force and accounts for over 40 per cent of Ghana's export earnings.

Dr Dapaah said the maintenance of productive capacity of soils is the most important basic requirement for sustainable and productive agriculture. But, the continuous decline of soil quality through crop harvest, soil erosion and other soil constraints, has negative impacts on the socio-economic development of Ghanaian rural communities and the national economy.

"Declining soil fertility is fuelling the downward trend of the poverty trap in agricultural communities by reducing crop yields and rural income, and the degrading soils invariably result in increased poverty," Dr Dapaah said.

This situation is made worse, the Chief Director said, by farmers' inability to invest adequately in inputs to replace lost soil nutrient.

Dr Dapaah said Ghana's current agricultural growth rate is 3-4 per cent a year. The country needs a growth rate of about six per cent annually between now and 2020. 0

He said from 1990 to 1996, the price of fertiliser has increased more than ten fold and continues to increase. Aside, some imported fertilisers are often poor in quality and quantity.

He said a survey conducted by the MOFA and the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC), a US-based fertiliser research organisation, showed that bagging and labels of some imported fertilisers leave much to be desired.

Nutrient quality is not well documented, said Dr Dapaah, and attributed the problem to the lack of an established fertiliser regulatory system before the privatisation of the fertiliser industry.

The establishment of a quality regulatory framework, Dr Dapaah said, will not only benefit the consumer, but also the businessman. "The farmer will be protected from poor quality fertiliser and the law would protect the respectable businessman. Once the businessman has been certified, the farmer will be confident to do business with him."

Dr Dapaah said the system would also provide information for marketing and other purposes that would benefit the fertiliser industry and the economy.

Dr Kofi Debrah, Head of Policy and Market Development Programme of IFDC-Africa, said the unstable macro-economic conditions and the generally weak support to the budding private sector, have rendered the agricultural input market confused and ineffective.