He said the smuggling of cocoa across the borders of the country, still remained as one of the challenges confronting cocoa production, therefore the rally to educate them against the practice and empower them to produce more.

He was speaking at the end of a regional rally for cocoa farmers in the two regions at Dodi-Papase in the Kadjebi District of the Oti Region over the weekend.

Mr Asiedu therefore, called on assembly members in cocoa growing areas, to form vigilante groups to monitor and prevent cocoa smugglers from their nefarious activ­ities, which had over the years affected the cocoa production of the country, and must be stopped.

The regional rally educated cocoa farmers on effects of smuggling of cocoa on the economy, and the need to stop the negative practice as well as imparted knowledge to farmers on best cocoa farming practices to ensure maximum yield.

According to him, it was important for cocoa farmers to appreciate the fact that the government had invested much in the cocoa farming sector particularly in the provision of farm inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and construction of cocoa roads to aid transportation of the produce to marketing centres.

The Oti and Volta Regional Extension Of­ficer of the COCOBOD, Mr Noel Ayibor, stressed the need for replanting of old cocoa farms and disclosed that over 1000 hectares of new cocoa farms would be cultivated this year.

Mr Ayibor asked cocoa farmers to form groups to enable them to complete plant­ing of cocoa in all cocoa farms in the two regions within the rainy season, as a way of laying a strong foundation for the cocoa industry in the regions for the benefit of the farmers and the nation as a whole.

The Oti and Volta Region Pollination Co­ordinator, Mr Elorm Kpornu Mensah, said pollination exercise was an intervention that would increase cocoa production, and urged farmers to recondition themselves to take advantage of the cocoa pollination exercise to ensure high yields.

He also stressed the need for cocoa farmers to strictly adhere to technical advice from cocoa extension officers, including regular pruning, weeding of their farms and application of appropriate fertilisers at the right time to ensure better yield.

Mr Mensah said cocoa farmers could not afford to stick to old methods of farming, and said research institutions had conducted studies into modern ways of cocoa farm­ing that would be made available to cocoa farmers, and would improve on cocoa production.

He disclosed that 3,000 cocoa farmers in the Oti and the Volta regions were trained in modern methods of cocoa farming, saying it was important for cocoa farmers to follow the education provided by extension officers to improve on their production.

FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, DODI-PAPASE