Members of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana (SEEDPAG), has called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to incorporate the use of certified seeds purchased from registered seed growers
in all agricultural projects in the country.
The members believe that, such a policy could help promote the use of certified seeds to help farmers to increase their productivity and also help
in developing the seed industry.
This came to light at an open forum of the Second Annual General Meeting
of the association organized under the theme; "Sustainable seed production for enhancing agricultural productivity in Ghana" in Accra.
The members called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement the law on the sale of agro-chemicals and enter the market to seize and destroy all adulterated agro-chemicals on the shelves to help protect farmers and the health of Ghanaians in general.
The members argued that, apart from the fake agro-chemicals causing great loss to farmers, it also poisoned food produced by farmers and put everybody at risk since all food items found on the market could be poisoned through the use of fake agro-chemicals.
The members also called on the Grains and Legumes Board to consider the demands of seed producers when producing "foundation" seeds since attempts to force seed producers to purchase what the board could offer against their wish could affect the market.
Alhaji Duunyin Naa Abubakar Von Salifu, member of the Northern Regional branch of the association, said farmers in the region preferred "Gyankuma Soya" beans seeds and "Apagbala" cowpea seeds to plant.
He said however, seed producers in the region in recent times never got the foundation seeds of "Gyankuma" and the "Apagbala" seeds to buy from the Grains and Legumes Board.
Naa Bawa Seidu, Upper West Regional President of SEEDPAG called on the government to rethink the policy of allowing multi-nationals to enter the seed industry in the country without giving the necessary support to the local seed producers to enable them to compete on a level playing field.
He explained that, if the programme is not planned well, the local seed producers would be disadvantaged and could loose out for the seed industry to be taken over by foreigners.
Mr Kwadwo Darkwah, Vice-President of the Ashanti Regional Branch of the Association, called on MOFA to investigate the release of "Atsubi" seed maize on the local market without it passing through the certification process as required by the seed laws of the country.
He said while the Seed Inspectorate Division of MOFA claimed that the "Atsubi" seed maize is still at the research level, a seed company in Ashanti Region has produced the seed and selling them on the open market.