CRI trains yam farmers on new techniques

Business News of Monday, 12 January 2015

Source: Graphic Online

Yam Farmers

A field day has been organised for yam farmers selected from Ejura and surrounding communities to educate them on new techniques to help improve their production.

It formed part of activities of a five-year yam agronomy research project being undertaken by the Crop Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The project is funded by the government through the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAPP).

The Director of the CRI, Dr Stella Ama Ennin, said the objective of the project was to focus on yam agronomy to improve yam production.

She said Ghana was a leading yam exporter to the international market and, therefore, the yam farmers needed to be equipped to be able to produce yams with the recommended shape and size for export.

Dr Ennin said yam production was gradually becoming a very lucrative business because of the high demand of the product on the international market and, therefore, the yam farmers needed to be supported to improve production and take advantage of the budding market.

For his part, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Mr Kwesi Owusu Boadu, said the ability of farmers to produce yams to the required size, as well as its proper packaging for the international market, was one of the major concerns of the GSA.