Gbedembilsi (UE), Nov. 13, GNA - The Upper East Regional Minister, h= as directed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to provide combine harvesters to farmers at the Fumbisi valley, to salvage more than 1,771.7= 1 hectares of rice locked up in water. Mr Mark Woyongo gave the directive when he visited the rice farms un= der the Block Farming Programme of MOFA in the Builsa District. He said marketing of rice is easy in the country due to the introduction of a Buffer Stock Company to purchase the commodity from farmers in large quantities. Mr Woyongo said the company is offering GH¢ 29 for a maxi bag of r= ice at the farm gates. He said the challenge facing the region is the processing of large quantity of paddy rice that are being produced, adding that most warehous= es earmarked for the storage of rice are full to capacity. He said the country is expecting four combine harvesters to augment the stock in Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions and other rice producing areas. More

Mr Woyongo called on investors to channel resources into rice millin= g services in the North to add value to the crop to attract good prices. He cautioned the people against the setting of bushfires, which he s= aid could destroy property including rice farms. Mr Woyongo asked chiefs and other opinion leaders to institute bye-l= aws that could check the menace. Mr Emmanuel Akuna, National Co-ordinator, Youth in Agriculture Block=

Farming Programme, said more than 800 farmers were supported under the scheme, made up of 306 females and 495 males in Doninga, Yagba and Kom communities. He said the farmers were supported with highly subsidised farm input= s to attract the youth into the programme. Mr Martin Alansah, District Director of MOFA noted that weedicites sprayed to curtail notorious weeds undermining agricultural production in=

the area had proved ineffective.