DCE'S seek solutions to tomatoes glut in the UE/R

Navrongo, March 4, GNA- In a bid to check the glut of tomato and the lack of market for the product some District Chief Executives DCE'S in the Upper East Region have initiated strategies to combat the situation.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Navrongo, Mr. Emmanuel Chegeweh DCE for Navrongo District, stated that the District Assemblies in the Region were disturbed about the lack of market for tomatoes in the Region.

He said this has resulted in the inability of many tomato farmers who contracted loans from the banks from being able to pay back with some of them even committing suicide.

Mr Chegeweh said the District Assembly in Kassena-Nankana has so far disbursed a sum of 30 million cedis for the procurement of tomato crates to transport the produce to the Pwaalugu tomato factory for production.

The Bongo District Assembly and other District Assembly's were among the group who benefited from the procurement of the tomato crates.

" The main problem facing the tomato farmers in the Region is the lack of tomato crates for packaging the product before its transportation to the Pwalugu tomato factory, where the farmers are paid instantly ", he added.

He said the assembly had also started renting out tractors at subsidised ra tes to the farmers to cart their tomatoes to the tomato factory.

Mr Chegeweh assured the tomato farmers that a team from the Tomato Farmers Association would arrive in the Region soon to purchase all tomatoes in the Region within a week.