Farmers welcome new producer price of cocoa

Dormaa-Ahenkro, (B/A) Oct. 28, GNA- Some cocoa farmers in the Dormaa District have welcomed the new producer price of cocoa pegged at 562,500 cedis per bag of 64 kilograms.

Nana Adjei Baafi, a 68-year-old farmer at Acherensua, said since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) assumed office, the government has increased cocoa price three times.

He said the increase would motivate cocoa farmers to work harder to increase the foreign exchange earnings of the country as well as their incomes.

Nana Baafi said with the fall of cocoa price on the world market, nobody even thought that the increase would have been possible and commended the government for it.

He expressed happiness about the government's policy of the mass cocoa spraying exercise and the payment of bonuses to farmers. Nana Kwasi Mensah, another at Pepra Shed, near Wamfie, praised the government for the increase and said it would improve the incomes of farmers to enable them to cater for the education and health needs of their dependants.

Opanin Kwasi Pepra, a 63-year old farmer of Suma-Mantukwa near Kwakuanya, however, described the increase as 'too meagre for farmers". He said it is anticipated that traders would take advantage of that and increase prices of their commodities.

This, he said would seriously affect farmers because they would find it difficult to buy their needs.

Opanin Pepra said with the high cost of living, the increase should have been 700,000 cedis per bag of 64 kilograms.