Farmers urged to weed farms to prevent swollen shoot

Cocoa farmers whose farms have been affected by the swollen shoot viral disease have been advised to allow the affected trees to be cut down.

Mr Randy A. Boaitey, Akyem-Oda District Cocoa Officer of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), was interacting with the GNA Media Auditing and Development Tracking team at Akyem-Oda.

He said the only cure for the disease which could spread from one cocoa farm to the other, was to cut down the affected trees.

“After the tree have been cut down, the farmer would be paid compensation and then supplied with hybrid cocoa seedlings free of charge for replanting, which will start bearing fruits within two to three years,’’ he noted.

He said government was determined to sustain the cocoa industry, and urged cocoa farmers to adopt best farming practices to maximize production.

Mr Boaitey advised the farmers to avoid engaging their children of school-going age on their cocoa farms at the expense of their education.

He explained that buyers of Ghana’s cocoa on the world market would blacklist the country if they detected that children below 18 years of age were being engaged as labourers on the cocoa farms.

The GNA/STAR-Ghana Media Auditing and Tracking of Development projects is an initiative launched to promote participatory democracy, social accountability and good governance.