IMPROVED SEEDS FOR YILONAYILI FARMERS (PAGE 22, JUNE 22, 2010)

FARMERS at Yilonayili, a suburb of Tamale, have been provided with improved rice seeds, fertilisers and other farming inputs to enhance rice production in the area.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Famine Fund Rice Project provided funds for the seeds. The seeds were part of the 120 tonnes, valued at GH¢120,000, distributed earlier to farming communities in the three northern regions.
The USAID Project Co-ordinator, Dr Wilson Dogbe, made this known at a seed fair at Yilonayili to distribute the seeds to beneficiary farmers in the area.
He said the beneficiaries were being linked to agro-input dealers to access rice seed and fertilisers at subsidised prices.
The fair was aimed at boosting rice production through increased farmer access to rice seed, technology, fertiliser and market.
Dr Dogbe stated that the seed fair was a follow-up to the two-year Emergency Rice Initiative (ERI) project being implemented in four West African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.
According to him, the ERI project started last year and was supposed to boost rice production in 10,000 farm households in each participating country.
“Domestic rice production is characterised by poor farmer access to production factors like improved seeds, technology for rice production, fertiliser and credit; domestic rice production is trailing far behind demand and stands at about 30 per cent of demand,” he observed.
Dr Dogbe further stated that plans were far advanced to reach out to 20,000 farmers with rice production videos by the end of 2010.
The Northern Regional Co-ordinator of the ERI, Dr Ibrahim Atokple, said the objectives of the ERI programme was to boost total domestic rice production in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal by about 30,000 tonnes of paddy rice with a current market value of about $21 million.
He explained that the seed fair would enable farmers to source vital inputs at the right time during each production season.
“In terms of yield, over 90 per cent of the farmers realised more than 100 per cent increase, harvesting between 15 and 20 bags of paddy rice per half an acre plot of farmland," he stated.
Dr Atokple said this year, the ERI was targeting 6,000 farmers, including those from Yilonayili.