Aveyime Rice Project to produce 2000mt of rice this year

Aveyime Rice Project to produce 2000mt of rice this year
Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, July 14, Ghanadot - Ghana’s quest for self-sufficiency in food productions has been given a boost as the Aveyime Rice Project managed by Prairie Volta Limited (PVL), an American company has announced that the first produce of 80 acres out of the 3000 acreage of cultivated land yielded over 360 metric tones (mt) of rice, two weeks ago.

The Ghanadot has gathered that production will hit some 2000 metric tones of rice by the end of the year when it visited the farm to ascertain the level of progress at the project site last week.

The farm managers say, despite initial challenges such as the delays in the rain pattern which delayed production for about three weeks, the 2000 metric tones target was still feasible.

The project which now employs about 150 workers is expected to boost rice production in the country over the years.

The project was re-commissioned last year after government went into partnership with a United States company, Perry Texas which owns 60 per cent shares in the new project after facility was abounded for well over ten years.

Farm Manager John Paul disclosed that rice distributors in rice have shown considerable interest for the company rice so we want to spread our rice to all the different parts of the region and not to limit the distribution to Accra alone.

He assured of a competitive pricing of the produce when the produce hits the market sometime this month.

Whiles Ghana’s rice consumption is estimated at 561,400 metric tons per year, rice produced locally currently stands at 107,900 metric tons leaving a gap of 453,500 metric tons, which have to be imported.

According to FAO, at an annual growth rate of 12.84 per cent, Ghana’s rice import grew from 121,000 metric tons in 1993 to 507,600 metric tons in 2002 whiles others pegged Ghana’s rice imports from the USA alone at 166.400 metric tons between 2004 and 2005.

The project has also found prominence government’s agenda at making substantial investments into agriculture to increasing agriculture production whiles making efforts at improving the lives of the majority of small holder farmers in the country.

A research conducted by the General Agricultural Workers’ Union of Ghana (GAWU), maintains that one major concern for food security in Ghana is based on the fact that the large small-holder farmers are the most vulnerable and women the hardest hit. GAWU maintains that food should not be viewed only according to the free market logic. But plight and fate of thousands of small scale farmers are too important to be neglected for the sake of trade liberalization

In Ghana the highest incidence of poverty occurs in the agricultural sector which is dominated by small holders hence the viability of the product will is expected to go a long way to salvage the food security situation in the country.

Ghanadot