Cocoa farmers have been advised to embrace the cocoa rehabilitation project, launched by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to boost output and returns.
The project involves among other things, application of fertilizers, removal of mistletoes, cutting down over-aged trees and replanting of farms with hybrid and high-yielding seedlings.
Reverend Abaka Ewusi, Executive Director of Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease Control Unit (CSSVDCU), said added to these, was the free supply of plantain suckers and economic tree seedlings.
He said this in an address read for him by Mr Samuel Gyimah Gyamfi, Ashanti Regional Manager of the Unit, at a rally to highlight the advantages of the project at Atweneboana, near Fumso, in the Adansi-South District.
It brought together cocoa farmers from 14 farming communities in the Fumso District area of the CSSVDCU.
Rev Ewusi said the choice of the district for the programme was influenced by the fact that Adansi-South remained the leading cocoa producing area in the Ashanti.
He appealed to the farmers to work closely with the Unit to ensure that the country achieved its cocoa production target.
Mr Benjamin Anhwere, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said the government would continue to provide the necessary incentives and support packages to farmers to increase production levels.
Nana Kwaku Duah, who represented the Regional Chief Farmer, urged the farmers to rely on the technical expertise of the extension officers.