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OCP Africa, a subsidiary of the OCP Group, a leading global producer of phosphate and its derivatives, have launched an agro school laboratory initiative aimed at providing on-site modern and practical agro services to farmers.
Known as the OCP School Lab (OSL), which operates by using a mobile laboratory van, the objective is to help increase yields of strategic crops such as maize, rice, sorghum and millet, as well as incomes of smallholder farmers.
Mr Samuel Oduro Ansah Asare, Country Director of OCP Africa, speaking at the launch of OSL at Ejura, in the Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality, said the initiative would offer full agro services such as interactive training, live demonstrations and animated videos, geared towards helping farmers to accept and adopt best agronomic and management practices.
It would also offer soil testing, using latest technology and innovations to provide live information on soil situation, recommend type of fertilizer needs, its application rate as well as the time of application to optimize crop yields and profits.
Mr Asare said about 50,000 farmers in Ghana were going to benefit from the project this year, adding that, since the introduction of OCP School Lab in Ghana in 2017, more than 45,000 farmers in the Northern, Upper East, Eastern, Bono, Ahafo and Bono East Regions, have been exposed to the concept.
Dr. Solomon Ansah Gyan, the Deputy Director of Crops at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), said the OCP Africa partnership with MOFA and the Soil Research Institute (SRI), was to ensure that farmers were equipped with the best agricultural practices and services, to help increase productivity.
He said the role of the regional and district directorates of MOFA was to assist OCP to design the route maps for the school laboratory campaign and help in the training of farmers.
Dr. Gyan encouraged farmers to avail themselves for assistance anytime the mobile laboratory van visited their farms.
Madam Rose Adoma, a farmer, expressed her delight at the introduction and impact of the OCP School Lab on her farm business.
“Previously, I used to harvest three bags of maize from an acre of land, but after the training, soil testing and advice from the OCP School Lab, I now harvest 13 bags from the same acre of land”.
