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AGRICULTURE

U W AKIM: Farmers receive coconut, cocoa seedlings under PERD programme

District Chief Executive of Upper West Akim, Eugene Sackey has distributed about Ten Thousand coconut and Fifty Thousand cocoa seedlings to some registered farmers in the District under the government’s flagship programe, Planting for Export and Rural Development Programe.

Date Created : 7/25/2019 2:43:42 AM : Story Author : Susana Danso/Ghanadistricts.com

The DCE Speaking at the presentation ceremony at Mepom said, the PERD programme is a decentralized National Tree Crop Programme to promote rural economic growth and improve household incomes of rural farmers through the provision of certified improved seedlings, extension services, business support and regulatory mechanisms, adding that each beneficiary farmer is expected to cultivate one-acre of land.

He also announced that, the Assembly has arranged with the District Directorate of Agriculture for its Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) to guide and assist the farmers in the planting process for the right thing to be done to avoid waste of public funds.

He said the government is committed and working hard to make the coconut industry attractive and advised the unemployed youth to take advantage and go into coconut farming as a viable economic venture.

Mr. Sackey expressed the hope that developing and modernizing the Agricultural sector would be a catalyst to transform the economy, hence the implementation of the PERD, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs), One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) and other programmes.

Mrs. Esther Commey, the District Director of Agriculture advised farmers to go into economic crops plantation for maximum financial returns to improve on their socio-economic livelihoods.

She said economic trees such as orange, coconut, mango and cashew had ready markets and huge economic potentials that could transform their standard of living.