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Mr Dennis Abugri Amenga, the Bono Regional Director, Department of Agriculture, has urged farmers to obtain agricultural inputs from authorised and accredited sellers approved by regulatory bodies. He said farmers in recent times had expressed concern over the quality of agro-inputs on the market, some of whom purchased seeds that failed to germinate or fertilizers that could not deliver the expected nutrients to plants.
Mr Amenga made the remarks in an interview with the media at the Bono Abinbev Agro Input Fair, organised by the Bono Regional Agriculture Department and the World Food Programme, Ghana.
The event, held in Wenchi, on the theme: "Promoting Market Linkages through Agricultural Fairs," aimed to educate farmers on the various types of inputs on the market.
This is to help them make informed decisions and avoid the pitfalls of using substandard inputs that resulted in low productivity.
The two-day fair brought together industry dealers of agro inputs to engage with aggregators, farmer-based organisations and smallholder farmers from the Wenchi, Tain, and Banda areas.
Mr Amenga stressed the importance of proper storage of inputs to maintain their efficacy, explaining that even high- quality inputs could lose their effectiveness if stored improperly.
The fair provided a platform for input dealers to offer farmers the necessary information to maximize the returns on their investments.
Mr Emmanuel Kwabena Afful, the Wenchi Municipal Agricultural Director, said the fair represented a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability in the region.
He emphasised the importance of collaboration among stakeholders in the agricultural sector to cultivate a robust and resilient industry that could support the communities and foster regional development.
Dr Kofi Frimpong-Anin, a Senior Research Scientist and Entomologist at the Crops Research Institute, advised farmers to adhere strictly to regulations regarding the use of agrochemicals.
Improper application of those chemicals could have detrimental effects on human health, the environment and the quality of food produced due to chemical residue, he said.
Madam Ursula Nanbala, a farmer from Akrobi, appealed to the government to construct dams in the area to support year-round farming and enhance agricultural productivity.
She highlighted the difficulties faced by farmers in accessing essential resources such as tractors for weeding and fertilizers for crop cultivation, which had resulted in low yield.
