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Hopes rekindle in agriculture as rains begin in Northern
Ghana
Tamale, July 17, Ghanadot/GNA - Hopes seem to be rekindled
in agriculture as farmers finally savour much expected rains
in some parts of Northern Ghana as if to say "all is not
lost yet".
Farmers had been disappointed as a result of the lack of
rainfall for almost two months in the Northern parts of the
country.
There was reported rainfall in the Upper East and the Upper
West regions on Sunday and a heavy downpour in Tamale on
Monday at about 13:00 hours.
Mr Sylvester Adongo, Northern Regional Director of the
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), speaking to the
Ghana News Agency (GNA) immediately after the rain describe
it as a fortunate event that had come almost too late, since
farmers had only about a week to replant their crops.
He urged farmers to replant short duration crops like maize,
rice, and Soybeans so that they could reap good returns in
their efforts adding: "the harm has already been caused, but
we can reverse it to at least retain about 80 per cent of
what should have been gained if the rain had come at the
appropriate time."
Mr Adongo appealed to the district assemblies to help
farmers with seeds and some finances to restart planting in
time since most of them might have run out of seeds and
finances due to the earlier planting which had failed
without the rains.
He urged farmers to rush to their farms and start all over
again and not to wait on the government with the hope that
the their problems would be addressed through food aid,
adding that even if the government would assist them, the
assistance might come late and might not have any impact on
their food needs.
For sometime now, most farmers' crops, which they had
planted in anticipation of the early rains, had withered
away and others had prematurely harvested theirs, dams and
streams dried up with little hope for farmers and the
imminent disaster that was looming in terms of hunger and
famine.
"Various religious bodies in the Tamale Metropolis have
organised prayer sessions at different locations for the
rains and it even took the participation of the Vice
President Alhaji Aliu Mahama on Friday to pray for rain and
God seems to have answered their prayers now", remarked a
resident.
GNA
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