As part of efforts to achieve the government’s vision of attaining self-sufficiency in rice production in the country, stakeholders want the government to invest in modern methods of farming to increase productivity.
This they believe will improve food security and make the agricultural sector more modern and sustainable.
In line with this, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) -Soil Research Institute (SRI) with funding from the Canadian government has introduced the Sawah Technology method of farming to some rice farmers in the Ashanti region.
The Sawah method of farming stakeholders say will help modernize farming in Ghana and improve yields.
A research Scientist at the CSIR-Soil Research Institute Dr. Ephraim Sakyi Annan says the method of farming if effectively implemented will boost rice production and make government attain the 2023 self-sufficiency goal.
“This is a technology that integrates soil, water, and fertilizer management on cropping fields. So with this technology one can increase rice production from the average yield of 2.8 tones per hectare to at least 6.5 tones per hectare. So if indeed the government wants to realize the goal of rice self-sufficiency, then we have to change our way of cropping rice. The Sawah technology is the way to go.”
Dr. Ephraim Sakyi Annan, also called on the government to support the initiative by providing farmers with some technological tools to help large-scale rice farming using the Sawah method.
“If we want to indeed achieve rice self-sufficiency, we have to support farmers who are willing to adopt this technology, with the required equipment including power trailers, harvesters, and even milling centres”.
This they believe will improve food security and make the agricultural sector more modern and sustainable.
One of the rice farmers at Banko in the Sekyere Kumawu District of the Ashanti region adopting the Sawah technology told Citi Business News what the Sawah method means to rice farmers like him.
“When I started rice farming about six years ago, I was using the traditional method of farming, and so I faced a lot of challenges. Since we were introduced to the Sawah technology, I’ve seen how efficiently it is. There are a lot of improvements in my yields,” said Kofi Asumadu.
Background
Research by the CSIRI -Soil Research Institute (SRI) suggests that rice consumption in Ghana has increased from 38 to 63 kilograms per person between 2008 and 2018.
Again, data from CSIR -Soil Research Institute reveals that the government imports about US$400 million worth of rice annually to supplement production.
However, the current rice production capacity in the country is only able to satisfy 40 percent of the demand.
Stakeholders say this is a result of poor land management as well as inappropriate water management and as such, adopting the Sawah technology method will help significantly.