Hopes rekindle in agriculture as rains begin

Tamale, July 17, GNA - Hopes seem to be rekindled in agriculture as farmers finally savour much expected rains in some parts of Northern Ghana as if to say "all is not lost yet".

Farmers had been disappointed as a result of the lack of rainfall for almost two months in the Northern parts of the country. There was reported rainfall in the Upper East and the Upper West regions on Sunday and a heavy downpour in Tamale on Monday at about 13:00 hours.

Mr Sylvester Adongo, Northern Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) immediately after the rain describe it as a fortunate event that had come almost too late, since farmers had only about a week to replant their crops.

He urged farmers to replant short duration crops like maize, rice, and Soybeans so that they could reap good returns in their efforts adding: "the harm has already been caused, but we can reverse it to at least retain about 80 per cent of what should have been gained if the rain had come at the appropriate time."

Mr Adongo appealed to the district assemblies to help farmers with seeds and some finances to restart planting in time since most of them might have run out of seeds and finances due to the earlier planting which had failed without the rains.

He urged farmers to rush to their farms and start all over again and not to wait on the government with the hope that the their problems would be addressed through food aid, adding that even if the government would assist them, the assistance might come late and might not have any impact on their food needs.

For sometime now, most farmers' crops, which they had planted in anticipation of the early rains, had withered away and others had prematurely harvested theirs, dams and streams dried up with little hope for farmers and the imminent disaster that was looming in terms of hunger and famine.

"Various religious bodies in the Tamale Metropolis have organised prayer sessions at different locations for the rains and it even took the participation of the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Friday to pray for rain and God seems to have answered their prayers now", remarked a resident.