Tuesday 17th September, 2019
By
Prosper K. Kuorsoh,
GNA
Losse (U/W), Sept. 17, GNA – Water from
frequent rains has destroyed tens of acres of water melons at Losse in the Wa
West District of the Upper West Region.
The field which showed a lot of promise has
been completely destroyed as all the fruits have been affected.
Mr Nibadingu Dassah, 67, the owner of the
farm, said his challenge is on how to fend for his family through the lean
season.
He said he and his family spent over GH¢
5,000.00 on the 100 acre land with the hope that they would harvest, sell and
use part of the money to buy maize for the family.
“Now that everything is rotten, I do not
know what will happen to me and my family because we pumped all our investment
into the water melon business hoping for a bumper harvest so that we can use
parts of the proceeds to buy food stuff for the family”, he said.
Mr Dassah said his only experience in water
melon farming was last year, adding that even though it was on a small scale,
the harvest was good, hence his decision to do it on a large scale this year.
Mr Hudu Abu, the Upper West Regional Crops
Officer for the Department of Agriculture, said the farmer did not seek
technical advice as what affected his effort was wrong timing on the
cultivation of the creeping crop.
He said water melon does not need too much
water and planting during the heavy rains period must be avoided.
Mr Abu urged all farmers to seek technical
support from the Department of Agriculture whenever they ventured into the
cultivation of a new crop.
GNA
