Former Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central in the Greater Accra Region, Theophilous Tetteh Chaie, has called on the government to put in place adequate compensation package for farmers whose crops have been attacked by fall of army worms.
Mr. Tetteh Chaie alleged the Ministry of Food and Agriculture “gave the farmers wrong chemicals to fight the worms when it was first detected in the year 2016 and all that the government is telling them is that they should cut [the affected crops] them”.
More than 18,000 hectares of maize farms across the country have been destroyed by the fall army worm.
Beyond that mango farms in the Kintampo North Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region have been massively attacked by mango bacterial black spot disease, raising fears of poor harvest among farmers in the area this season.
The farmers say they risk losing their harvest this year, noting they do not have the financial strength to undertake mass spraying exercise to rid their farms of the disease, hence need assistance.
Meanwhile, in the Central Region, more than 3,480 farmers have registered to benefit from the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ Programme but analysts say the worms could threaten the project which is the government’s agricultural flagship programme.
Speaking on the army worm issue on TV3’s New Day, Mr Chaie who was a National Democratic Congress MP said “it happened in last year and the ministry in charge did what it takes to identify the worm and adequate measures were put in place to kill the worms.
“But the chemicals could not kill the worms so what proactive measures were put in place by the Agric Ministry under this government?” he asked.
He wondered: “Why didn’t the ministry in charge of the farmlands adequately prepare them and start distribution of the drugs?”
Mr. Tetteh Chai told the New Day host, Bright Nana Amfo that people’s investments have gone waste, noting the poor farmers are going to suffer and wondered what mitigation measures the government has put in place for the farmers.
“What sort of compensation are we given them?,” he asked
“We are told it will not affect food supply, but destroying such farms is a huge investment loss to the state and the farmers” he added.
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