A section of the farm that has seen crops destroyed by the cattle.
One of Ghana’s biggest maize producers says its production is seriously threatened by the resurgence of Fulani herdsmen and their cattle in the Agogo Afram plains.
According to Scanfarm over eight hectares of its fields have been devastated by cattle and the menace is fast spreading to other parts.
Chief Operations Officer of ScanFarm Michael Eshun told Luv News the development could drastically reduce its yield if it continued. The 2011 National Best Maize farmer is one of the few large scale mechanized farms in the country.
It has currently cultivated 630 hectares of corn which is expected to yield 38,000 maxi bags of the produce in the Agogo Afram plains. Mr Eshun however feared this may not be achieved, with the current destructions by Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.
“The cattle are taking over our farm and it’s disturbing as we expand, they have grazed the new maize here which is about a month old to the ground.”
According to him, the projection of Scanfarm is to produce six tons per hectare of maize but with the cattle invasion, this may be impossible, stressing the eight hectares destroyed so far would cost Scanfarm 48 tons of corn worth over 33,500 Ghana cedis.
The cattle are not only a threat to meeting production targets, their activities have become a threat to the farm workers.
Mr Eshun said although the “Operation Cow Leg Task Force” regularly visits the farm to provide some security, this is however ineffective at stopping the cattle invasion, which takes place during the night.
Scanfarm has deployed additional security men to ward off the cattle rom invading its farm but Mr Eshun says their lives are at risk as they are unarmed.