Government to encourage use of organic manure

Naba Bosongo Dogumpoeya, a traditional ruler, has appealed to government to encourage farmers to use organic compost instead of relying on chemical fertilizers which had serious consequences on the soil and environment.

He explained that the application of organic manure to farms made them more fertile than the application of fertilizers which contained more chemicals.

Naba Bosongo Dogumpoeya stated that the continuous use of fertilizers on farms could have acidic effects on the soil which affected yield and that some farmers were experiencing this on their farms.

He said the chemicals in fertilizers applied on crops could also have serious health implications on the health of the people during harvesting and consumption.

Naba Doqumpoeya said most often than not the fertilizers applied on the farms were washed away by rain into rivers, ponds and other sources of water thereby polluting those water bodies.

He said organic compost was cheaper to prepare and improved yield and that farmers only needed technical support from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to enable them to prepare the compost.

Naba Dogumpoeya indicated that government could cut down cost from importing fertilizers and rather provide technical and other logistical support to farmers to expand.

Touching on the increase in utility tariff, he appealed to the government to reconsider its decision saying it was seriously affecting ordinary Ghanaians especially the rural folks.

He said due to increase in the cost of utilities some business interests had taken advantage of that and had increased the cost of their products and services.

Source: GNA