Agric is key to economic self-reliant- Ahwoi

THE Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, has given the assurance that the government’s quest to build a self-reliant economy using agriculture as key to its economic policy is achievable.
He said his ministry, apart from the Aveyime Rice Project and other such projects under the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), had initiated a master plan to grow rice all over the country in areas where the crop could be cultivated, taking into consideration quality as its key measure.
Responding to questions on a field excursion to the Aveyime Rice Project which is a joint venture among the government of Ghana, with 30 per cent share, Prairie Texas Limited, with 40 per cent share, and the Development Finance and Holding Company, a subsidiary of the Ghana Commercial Bank, with 30 per cent share, Mr Ahwoi said the Aveyime Rice Project would spearhead the country’s quest to feed itself, thereby ensuring food security for all Ghanaians, and pointed out that the government was very committed to the project.
Together with a delegation from his ministry, the media and some officials of Prairie Volta Limited, the minister visited all the various sites, including the 3,177-acre field under the project which shares borders with the Volta River, a pumping station, the milling facility with 60,000-tonne capacity and eight silos with capacity to store about 15,000 tonnes of paddy rice.
Mr Ahwoi, however, disclosed that the government, in its efforts at making the country self-reliant, was considering the imposition of taxes on imported rice to change the marketing attitude of rice importers and force them to produce local rice.
“The government is looking at using the tariff mechanism to discourage the heavy dependent on rice imports,” he stated, and stressed that the rationale behind that measure was to build on the country’s local rice base using the Aveyime Rice Project and other small-scale irrigation projects under GIDA.
The Chief Operating Officer, Mr John Van-Dyke Mensah, announced that the first harvest from an 80-acre field, which was part of the project’s 3,177 acres, would begin in early June and promised that the company would make sure that its rice was of quality and far cheaper than imported rice to discourage the country’s over-dependence on imported rice.
The prices, he stated, would come down, taking into consideration the minimum wage, to ensure that all Ghanaians were able to afford them.
Presently, he said, the company was awaiting the arrival of an air plane which would spray the crops with chemicals before harvest begins in June and pointed out that if things went well the company would be growing and harvesting all-year round.
Mr Mensah attributed the poor quality of locally produced rice to the cultural practices among farmers, hinting that time and the production process were critical to the final output.
The Managing Director of Prairie Volta Limited, Mr Everett Anderson, explained that the company had planted 16 rice varieties, 10 foreign and six local, on small-scale research plots to identify the suitable varieties and farming procedures.
The results on all the varieties, which matured within 90-100 days after cultivation, he attested, proved successful and that encouraged the company to replicate it on all the acres presently allocated for the project.
Mr Anderson said other equipment, including those designed to work in clayey fields in the rainy season, was expected in the country soon so that production could be undertaken all-year round in order for the company to meet its set targets.
The Deputy Chief Executive of GIDA, Mr Daniel Nyarko Ohene, announced that a feasibility study on the 200,000-hectare Accra Plains would be due by June 2009.
He said out of the 200,000 hectares, 150,000 would be irrigated and the government would apportion it to farmers for the cultivation of various crops, according to its policy.