Govt is not doing well in agriculture - MP

Mr Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, Member of Parliament for Wenchi-West, on Saturday alleged that the government could not release its latest Trade Statistics on Agriculture because the sector failed to achieve its targets.

Mr Asiedu-Nketia, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, said this at a forum of the Volta Region branch of the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network (TEIN) of the National Democratic Congress at Ho.

He said rice imports for instance had doubled from 100 million dollars to 200 million dollars while yellow maize imports rose from 5,000 tonnes to 15,000 tonnes in 2001 and again rose to 20,000 tonnes in 2002, bringing the government's total yellow maize imports to 35,000 tonnes.

Mr Asiedu-Nketia said the government's importation of chicken parts also rose from 11 million dollars previously to 26 million dollars in 2001 and to 30 million dollars in 2002.

He said large-scale chicken breeders were starved of support that was shifted to small-scale producers with adverse effects on the country's poultry industry.

''The fisheries sector has virtually collapsed where for instance the price of a gallon of pre-mix fuel has risen from 5,000 cedis to 16,000 cedis and the price of 30 bundles of fishing nets increasing from 15 million cedis to 50 million cedis.''

Mr Asiedu-Nketia alleged that "a few people have been groomed to import fish into the country instead of large-scale cold-store operators, who now depend on the few importers for their supplies resulting in local fish shortage.''

On cocoa, he said the previous government was paying 70 per cent of the world market price of the produce to farmers but now farmers were being paid 46 per cent of the world market price.

''These and many other shortfalls in the performance of the agriculture sector for two years now do not match the high profile pronouncements of commitment to making it the backbone of the economy.

"Any praise of the government's performance, therefore, cannot include the agriculture sector", Mr Asiedu-Nketia said. However, when the GNA interviewed the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Major Courage Quashigah on Monday in Accra, he described Mr Nketia's assertions as malicious and false.

He said there was nothing wrong with the statistics saying; "it is totally ridiculous for a past Minister and an MP to give false figures to the people".

He said 10,589 tonnes of maize worth 1.526 million dollars was imported into the country in 2001 and 9,142 tonnes worth 1.308 million dollars came in during the first six months of 2002.

Rice import was 311,513 tonnes worth 72.456 million dollars in 2001 while 378,311 tonnes worth 85.23 million dollars was imported in 2002.

Major Quashigah said 10,962 tonnes of poultry worth 8.258 million dollars was imported in 2001 while 19,199 tonnes was imported in 2002.

The Minister said fishing net had been selling at between 25 million cedis and 30 million cedis since last year and the price was still the same and called on political opponents to speak the truth and not play "pull him down politics".

Major Quarshigah (pictured) said due to hostilities in neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, countries like Burkina-Faso, Niger, Togo and Mali were using the Tema and Takoradi Harbours and increases in importation did not mean that all the rice and maize importation were for Ghana.

He said the Ministry was bent on cutting down the importation of rice for Ghanaians to patronise local rice.