Jacobu (Ash), Dec. 10, GNA - Mr Kofi Opoku Manu, Ashanti Regional Minister, has urged beneficiaries of the youth- in- agriculture programme to take their training seriously in order to get the required technical skills to excel in farming.

He also encouraged the youth to take farming seriously to enhance the food security situation in Ghana.

Mr Opoku Manu gave the advice when he presented the best institution award from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) in recognition of its immense contribution to the development of agriculture in Ghana at the 26th National Farmers Day celebration in Kumasi.

He said KITA came out best among all the institutions in the region because of its provision of quality human resource for the agriculture sector as well as its agro-forestry and tree planting activities in the country.

He noted that most of the graduates at KITA had won best farmer awards in various commodities in the country. Mrs Beatrice Mante, Ejisu Municipal Director of Agriculture said KITA had been very instrumental in propelling the development of agriculture in the Ejisu Juabeng District through its village programmes, such as agro-forestry, environmental conservation and support to the youth and women, which she described as "commendable". She emphasised that KITA training and empowerment in the agro-enterprises such as mushrooms, snail, bee-keeping, rural irrigation, rabbitry, grasscutter and has had an impact on rural communities in the district. Receiving the award, Mr Samuel Owusu-Takyi, Acting Director of KITA, expressed appreciation to MOFA for the prestigious award given the school. Mr Owusu-Takyi said because of quality training given to the students about 25 per cent of the graduates had won best farmer awards in various categories within the district, regional and national levels. He said KITA had rolled out a five-year strategic plan spanning 2010 to 2015 to grow into a university college.