Juaso-Ashanti, June 19, GNA - Key players in the cocoa industry have been tasked to play their respective roles effectively towards achieving the one million tonnes cocoa production target by 2010. The target set by the management of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is to help Ghana reclaim her position as the leading cocoa producer in the world and increase foreign exchange earnings for the country. Mr Mike Essuah, Plant Pathologist at Cocoa Research Institute, Ghana (CRIG) who made the call said achieving the target required diligence from stakeholders especially those at the grassroots. He was addressing a forum to sensitize supervisors of spraying gangs under the mass cocoa spraying exercise and chief farmers drawn from Asante Akim North Municipal and Asante Akim South District at Juaso on Wednesday.

The forum to sensitize participants on effective ways of spraying cocoa farms to ensure higher yield was sponsored by management of COCOBOD in collaboration with CRIG, Wienco, Dizengoff and Chemical Ghana Limited.

Mr Essuah, who took the participants through modern ways of spraying called for effective collaboration between farmers and the spraying gangs to ensure all farmers were covered. He advised gang supervisors to endeavour to submit monthly reports on their activities to the district office to enable them identify challenges facing the exercise and address them appropriately. Mr Abdul Karim Boakye-Yiadom, Asante Akim South District Chief Executive said the exercise had over the years increased cocoa production since its inception in 2001 and urged cocoa farmers to avail themselves of the exercise. He noted that the exercise was in line with the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II), because cocoa farmers had contributed immensely to the national economy therefore government's commitment towards their farming activities.

Mr Boakye-Yiadom commended spraying gangs in the district for their dedication and urged them not to adulterate the chemicals for their personal gains to defeat purpose of the exercise. Mr Yaw Owusu Donkor, Asante Akim South District Director of Ministry of Food and Agricultural (MOFA) called for effective collaboration between the various stakeholders to ensure a successful exercise. He urged the sprayers to work closely with MOFA to achieve the target set by management of COCOBOD. 19 June 08