The President of the Greater Accra and Eastern Regional branch of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana (SEEDPAG), Mr Mackeon Frimpong, has called on members of the association to invest in equipment to help improve upon the quality of seeds they produce.
He explained that with the passage of the Plant and Fertilizer Act of 2010, the seed industry in the country had opened up and some multi-national companies had started showing interest in the industry.
Mr Frimpong said the situation therefore demanded that members improved upon the quality of their seeds to meet international standards to enable them to reposition themselves to get the best out of the situation.
He was speaking at the first general meeting of the association, in the year, in Koforidua, on Wednesday, to discuss the current seed situation in the country.
Mr Frimpong appealed to members to acquire copies of the Plant and Fertilizer Act of 2010 to help in supporting its enforcement, to help protect the seed industry.
He informed the members that Wienco Ghana limited had sent a proposal to the association for the purchase of large quantities of the “Obatanpa” maize seeds for processing into its Pro-seeds for sale to farmers.
Mr Frimpong urged members to process their produce in time, to take advantage of the offer to dispose off their excess produce.
He appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to assist the branch to acquire a seed processing centre to help improve the seed processing procedure in the region.
Mr Frimpong expressed worry that the region, which is one of the major maize seed producers in the country, has no seed processing centre.
Members of the association appealed to their national leadership to further negotiate with Wienco to increase the price that they proposed to purchase the seeds.
They argued that last year, the Seed variety Release Board proposed that a bag of seed maize be sold at GHC55, at the time the fuel prices were low.
The members said with the recent increase in fuel price, transportation cost of the seed between the farms and the processing areas had increased, as well as labour cost, which had affected the total cost of production and so there was the need to take into consideration those factors if the farmers are to stay in business.