President Mills pledges to
pursue Accra Plains Irrigation Project
Accra, Feb. 19, Ghanadot/GNA –
President John Evans Mills on Thursday pledged that his government would
irrigate the Accra plains to be the flagship of its agricultural revolution.
“The Accra Plains Irrigation Project will be vigorously pursued to make it
available for all year round production. It will be the flagship of the
agricultural revolution of this administration,” he said in the State of the
Nation Address to Parliament.
President Mills said the government would construct additional dams, boreholes
and other water harvesting facilities in areas with high agricultural potential.
The President said his Government would address simultaneously the issues of
food availability, access to food, response to crises situations and
malnutrition.
It would invest adequately to maintain the production level of those crops for
which we have surplus production and put in measures to increase significantly
the production level of those crops for which we have deficit production.
“We will also put in place measures to increase significantly the production
level of the staple crops for which consumption demand exceeds domestic
production,” President Mills said in his maiden State of the Nation Address to
Parliament in Accra.
The President said the Aveyime Rice Project would be restored to boost rice
production for internal consumption and for export.
“We will move beyond rhetoric and execute a programme to rehabilitate existing
irrigation schemes to ensure their efficient utilization.”
President Mills said his Government would pursue a policy of direct intervention
to make available production inputs for small farmers on credit. In addition to
the credit support, Government would continue the fertilizer subsidy programme.
“To address the situation of cheap poultry and meat imports, large scale
cultivation of maize and soybeans will be supported to drastically reduce the
cost of feed for poultry production. Tariff and non-tariff barriers will be used
to give local poultry production a competitive edge over cheap imports.”
The President said Government would review all existing agreements on fishing
within Ghana’s territorial waters to ensure that the livelihood and long-term
interests of our fishermen and the residents of the coastal communities are
guaranteed.
Government would also enforce the prohibition of the unorthodox fishing methods
currently used by some foreign and local fishing trawlers which are leading to
the depletion of our marine fish resources.
“We will enhance the capacity and capability of the Ghana Navy and Air Force to
enforce the prohibition. We will also enforce regulations on pair trawling and
we will enforce the ban on the use of light and explosives for fishing,”
President Mills said.
On Cocoa, the President said the Government would aim to increase the yield of
cocoa from 1,250 kg to about 1,750 kg per hectare through better farm management
application of hi-tech production systems and better producer prices.
He said the current mass cocoa spraying exercise would be intensified and
extended to include brushing, pest and disease control, shade management,
pollination and fertilization.
“In pursuance of the objective to process at least 60 per cent of the cocoa
produced locally, the NDC Government will begin negotiations for the
establishment of a cocoa processing factory in the heart of the cocoa producing
area of the Western Region. This will reduce the burden of transporting large
quantities of cocoa beans to the ports.”
GNA
