Retired Deputy Director of CSIR urged Farmers to pray for rainfall

Prayer has been identified as an integral part of most activities Ghanaians perform including farming as farmers were called to indulge in active prayer especially during the period of sowing as the rains could trigger the application of fertilizer or plants that may be left to die.

This is arguably is against advice from some Agricultural Extension Service (AES) officers who sometimes advise farmers to apply fertilizer even if the rains do not come within the tenth and the fourteenth day of sowing.

A researcher and retired Deputy Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr James Kombiok at gathering of farmers in Tumu in the Sissala East District, said rainfall agriculture depends on prayers hence farmers must continue to double in prayers ten and fourteen days after planting their crops and must pray for the rains to fall or lose out.

“Farmers who apply fertilizer without looking out for the time of application, quantity per plant, age of the plant may not get the expected yields” .Dr. Kombiok noted and said “we are given range because we depend on the rains and if its ten days after planting and there is no rain don’t go and apply the fertilizer even though the Agric people say you can apply at the tenth day but, with prayers there could be some moisture within the ten days as we depend on rain fed agriculture”

He however said all depends on `prayer” warning that without strict adherence to the time, quantity, age and a good rain after planting farmers may not get the required yields.

Farmers are therefore been reminded that fertilizer application starts ten to fourteen days after planting.

The second stage of application is done when the maize is tussling according to Dr. Kombiok a former researcher of the Savannah Agricultural Research institute but advised them to bury their fertilizer 5cm deep and 5cm from the plants if they wanted to get optimum yields from their maize farms.