Afram Plains seed growers cry for market

Obaatanpa maize seed growers in the Afram Plains have appealed to government to come to their aid and help find marketing for their produce.

Speaking on behalf of seed maize farmers on the Afram Plains, Mr. Alfred Adusu, Manager of Mawulawe Farms and a member of the Eastern and Greater Accra branch of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana (SEEDPAG) told the Ghana News Agency that, after a very tedious farming season to produce the seed maize, the challenge faced by most seed producers on the Plains is how to market their seeds to the farmers.

He said often, the farmers bagged the seeds and send them to gro-chemical dealers to sell and sometimes sell directly to individual farmers. He said in recent times, often most of the seed growers have large stock of unsold seeds at the end of the farming season.

Mr Adusu said currently he is having about 500 bags of seed to sell and it is left with only a month to the end of the major farming season for maize and he fear that he might not get market for all his produce.

He said because there are no cold storage facilities for seeds in the Region, it is difficult to store seed maize for a long time without loosing the germination standard of seeds.

According to Mr Adusu, apart from the high cost of production, the seed growers are also faced with high cost of packaging materials like approved sacks, rubbers and tags for certified seeds.

Mr Adusu said, in the face of all these challenges, it is disheartening if farmers could not sell all their produce to recover their investment , let alone make some profit.

He called on all members of the association across the country to help form strong regional and a national association to defend the interest of members and fight for a uniform price across the country.