Oda cocoa farmers receive free fertilizer

The Akyem Oda District of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has supplied fertilizers free of charge to about 3,900 cocoa farmers in the area.

The gesture forms part of government’s effort to assist cocoa farmers to increase their yields.

One thousand, nine hundred of the farmers received 24,000 bags of granular NPK fertilizer, and 1,500 cartons of liquid fertilizer were also supplied to over 2,000 farmers.

Mr Randy K.A.Boaitey, the District Cocoa Farmer, revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency Media Auditing and Development Tracking team at Akyem Oda.

The GNA, STAR-Ghana Media Auditing and Tracking of Development Projects is an initiative launched to promote participatory democracy, social accountability and good governance at the district level.

Mr Boaitey said, his outfit is still distributing the commodity, adding ‘’we are expected to cover additional two thousand farmers.’’

He noted that the farmers' yields are expected to increase this year, due to the favourable rainfall, the supply of the input, coupled with the mass cocoa spraying exercise.

“Government is doing its best, the Cocobod is also doing everything possible to support farmers, it now lies on farmers to ensure that they weed their farms to boost their production’’.

He charged cocoa farmers to use part of their resources to send their children to school, instead of engaging them on the farm at the expense of their education.