Suhum (E/R), May 11, GNA - Participants at a farmers' rally at Suhum in the Eastern Region have described as laudable, the government's decision to allocate pesticides directly to farmers without cost. The forum was organised by the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD) Control Unit of the Cocoa Board. Addressing over 360 farmers drawn from the Suhum Kraboa Coaltar District, Mr George Asante, Eastern Regional Manager of Cocoa Services Division, was emphatic that the supply of agro-chemicals, fungicides and insecticides was part of efforts by the government to help arrest the decline in cocoa production.

Mr Asante noted that the government through Cocoa Board had initiated a National Cocoa Diseases and Pest Control (CODAPEC) programme, dubbed: "Mass Spraying" to assist all cocoa farmers in the country to combat the capsid/mired and the black pod diseases. He stressed that the spraying programme had been a source of employment for the youth, involving sprayers, supervisors and mechanics in the rural communities, adding that the programme had also reduced significantly, the black pod disease and mired infestation. The Regional Manager warned that the practice of some spraying gangs to charge fees before farms are sprayed is illegal, untenable and seriously undermines the spraying exercise.

Mr Asante advised cocoa farmers to report whoever plays politics with the "mass spraying" exercise to either his office, the District Chief Executive or the Eastern Regional Minister.

He pointed out that to ensure a reduction in diversion, the police and other security agencies had been involved in checking and controlling the pilfering and illegal sale of the inputs at agro-chemical centres throughout the country and making periodic swoops to arrest and prosecute offenders. According to him, "with the additional measures put in place, the 2010 programme will be more successful and would make a significant contribution towards the attainment of the one million metric tonnes target by 2012." Mr William Wiafe Mintah, Deputy Regional Manager of Cocoa Services Division, spoke on replanting and rehabilitation, reminding cocoa farmers to be always responsible for the 'cultural practices,' which he explained to include pruning, brushing, shade management and removal of all other diseased pods, to ensure proper and satisfactory farming.

Mr Mintah urged the participants to allow their diseased cocoa trees to be cut down for replanting to ensure better yields, since cocoa farming is a business and their source of livelihood.

Earlier in a welcome address, Mr Michael Gyasi, District Cocoa Officer, said the first recorded export of beans from Ghana was in 1891 and since then cocoa had been the main export crop and a major source of foreign exchange for the nation.

Nana Debrah Amanor, District Chief Farmer, chaired the function. Other speakers were Madam Melody Atta, Regional Extension Officer and Mr Emmanuel Obeng, District Quality Control Division Officer. 11 May 10