Aveyime, June 12, GNA - Good quality local rice from the reactivated Aveyime Rice Project is to be on the Ghanaian market within a month.

Harvesting of the first 80 acres started on Wednesday and is expected to yield 200 tonnes of paddy rice or 140 tonnes of milled rice.

Tim Rasta and John Paul Barre, American Harvester Operators, are operating the combine harvesters to appraise their technical state after years of abandonment.

The two would also train Ghanaian employees of the Prairie Volta Limited (PVL), the new American managing partners of the project, on the use of the harvesters.

Mr Everestt Anderson, Managing Director of PVL, said it would take four days to complete the harvesting of the entire 80 acres. He said the company had so far planted 300 acres with another 300 acres almost ready for planting.

Mr Everestt said the first bag of rice would be auctioned before business on the open market commence. Mr Kobby Woyome, Member of Parliament for South- Tongu, who was on a familiarization visit to the farm, expressed joy about progress of work, saying the project represented a major boost to economic activity in the area. He appealed to the management to assist local rice producers, millers and marketers to improve their expertise. About 80 permanent and 86 casual workers are currently engaged on the project, which is projected to cultivate 3177 acres of land.