Farmers in Tano North and South lament influx of fake agro-chemicals

Farmers in some communities in the Tano North and South Municipalities of the Ahafo Region, are lamenting the influx of adulterated and harmful agro-chemicals.

The affected communities include Techimantia, Derma, Bechem, Duanyaw-Nkwanta and others.

The situation is said to be impacting negatively on vegetable production, as farmers continue to record low yield.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Public Relations Officer of the Nyamebekyere Co-operatives Vegetable Farming and Marketing Society Limited, a farmer-based organization in Techimnatia, Evelyn Bema Darkwa, called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to intervene.

“There are harmful or adulterated agro-chemicals in the system, and this has led to low yields of our produce. This is what we are experiencing as an association. We want to engage the policymakers so that we can know the way forward. Most of them, when they produce the vegetables, the expectation of the produce they want to get, they don’t get it. The yields are very low,” she stated.

She called for policy reforms and enforcement of the appropriate regulations to boost the production of quality vegetables and access to market.

“The government must also provide subsidies, price controls and other interventions to help improve production.”

She also called for strict enforcement of the Pesticides Control and Management Act, 1996 (Act 528), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Act, Act 490 of 1994 to sanitize the industry.

“If issues of standardization and regulation of agro-chemicals in the market are done properly and enforced, then the effects on farmers and public consumers would be positive in both quantity and quality of produce,” Madam Darkwa said.

She called for increased operational budget and funding for the EPA to be efficient in the districts.

citibusinessnews.com