Upper East farmers sensitised to sorghum cultivation benefits

A day’s capacity training programme aimed at wooing farmers to venture into sorghum cultivation has been held in four communities in the Upper East Region.

Dubbed “Pre-season training” the event was to encourage farmers to go into sorghum in addition to other crops they grow as there is a ready market for it by the brewery companies.

The beneficiary communities were Paga, Sandema, Nangodi and Garu respectively. It was organised by SNV, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), with emphasis on poverty alleviation in areas of agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and renewable energy.

Investment

Speaking at separate events, an Agricultural Advisor to SNV, Nelson Gulbi, said the brewery industry was investing heavily in sorghum production to get the needed raw material for their products.

The farmers

He said as a result of that there was market demand and opportunities in the sorghum value chain, hence the need for farmers to diversify by making sorghum one of their cash crops, to generate income to improve their living standards.

He noted that once there was market availability and opportunities for sorghum, it was important to build the capacities of the farmers to improve their knowledge in the production of sorghum to meet the market demand.

He stated that the pre-season platform was to assure the farmers that there was a market for the sorghum, stressing that “the move is intended to make sorghum production a profitable venture for the farmers.”

While assuring the farmers of the commitment of aggregators towards improving sorghum production, he indicated that the training was to provide them with basic information, needed inputs and other activities needed to adequately prepare them for the upcoming farming season.

“As an organisation, we believe that the farmers will put the knowledge and expertise acquired to use to shore up sorghum production in the country to meet the demand of industries,” Mr Gulbi stated.

Tampered scales

The Director, Savanna Agric Chains Limited, Julius Awaregya, an aggregator, underscored the need for the farmers to be vigilant at all times to identify weighing scales that had been tampered with in order not for them to be short-changed.

He stressed the need for farmers to take advantage of sorghum production to earn extra income for their basic needs. The Municipal Director of the Department of Agriculture in the Kassena Nankana Municipality, Elias Atinbire, told the farmers that sorghum farming was more lucrative than maize.

So they should consider it in their farming business. He commended SNV and its partners for organising the event, as it had enlightened the farmers to come to terms with the best practices required in the sorghum value chain, saying, “I wish to entreat farmers to turn their attention towards sorghum production for their own benefit.”

The District Director of the Department of Agriculture in the Kassena Nankana West District, Mohammed Bukari, advised the farmers against planting sorghum alongside other cereals, stressing: “It is better to plant sorghum together with legumes to get the needed yields”.

Writer’s email: [email protected].