The President of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana, Mr. Patrick Appullah has called on the government to commit money to research on seeds production to enable farmers to increase their yield to facilitate food security.
Mr. Apullah who is also the Managing Director of the Savannah Seed Services Limited was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Tamale, after attending a workshop on improved seeds for West Africa farmers in Nigeria.
He asked the government to task all banks operating in the country to set aside funds to support farmers to venture into large scale farming in order to improve the standard of living of the people.
He also appealed to the Executive to subsidise improved seed varieties for farmers alongside fertiliser saying, "Without improved seed, subsidy on fertilizer would be meaningless". Mr. Appullah called on President Mills Administration to revamp the Ghana Food Distribution Company, which bought produce from farmers at the farm gates during the First Republic.
According to the Daily Trust, a Nigerian newspaper, improved seed supply in Nigeria accounted for 47 per cent of total seed requirement, 11 per cent in Ghana and 33 per cent in West Africa from 1997 to 2007. It added that maize seed production is lower than what is needed in West Africa and called for a favourable policy framework that would attract the private sector to the seed industry.
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