The Executive Director of Soil Research Institute, Dr. Edward Yeboah has bemoaned the rate at which the country’s soil has degraded over the years.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony and awareness creation event on the organic fertilizer guidelines organized by Alliance For Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Dr. Yeboah stated that the devastating effect on the land does not help the Agricultural sector of the country.
He explained that degradation of the soil has become a major challenge in the country even though successive governments have tried to halt it. He said various governments have tried their best to make sure the soil gets necessary nutrients for Agricultural production yet the challenge keeps persisting.
He, however, stated that land degradation has been, and continues to be, a major threat to the estimated 150,000km of Agricultural land, which is about 63 percent of the total land area of Ghana.
Dr. Yeboah disclosed that evidence abounds that the natural resources of Ghana are being lost through over-exploitation and degradation of land, adding that it is estimated that the deforestation rate in Ghana is 2 percent per annum.
Overgrazing, heavy logging, fuel wood harvesting, mining, slash and bum agriculture, wildfires, and over-cultivation of cleared land have been cited as the major causes of land degradation in the country, he noted.
Dr. Yeboah said it is about time “we consider the use of organic fertilizers on our soils since it has been identified as an ultimate way to gain the fertilize lost in the soil.”
Meanwhile, the Director of PPRSD at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture who is also the Country Director of AGRA, Mr. Juliette Lampo Agroh said many farmers have expressed interest in the use of organic fertilizer adding that he was hopeful that the guideline will be used to help the country experiment with the richness in the country’s soil.
He, therefore, expressed his gratitude for the research that will go a long way to improve farmers’ produce in the country.
Mr. Paul Siame, Director of Agric Extension at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture at Koforidua in the Eastern Region in an interview with CTV’s Asonaba Kwadwo Nomafo said this guideline launched will help the farmers to know how they can apply both organic fertilizers and organic manure on their lands.
The event brought together many other stakeholders who play a major role in the Agricultural sector.