high cost of fuel: Farmers forced to use dirty oil, petrol as weedicides

Farmers in Ejura Sekyedumase in the Ashanti Region have now resorted to using concoctions made up of salt, petrol, dirty oil, saltpeter (ekau), detergents, etc to clear weeds on their farmlands.

The farmers are complaining that the cost of weedicides that used to be cheap and affordable are now expensive and they can no longer acquire the same quantity for their farmlands.

Previously, weedicides like glyphosate and sunphosate which used to be sold at between ¢7 to ¢9 is now being sold at ¢55.

Tractors that used to plow one acre of land at ¢60 are now charging ¢200.

According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ejura Sekyedumase Constituency Secretary, Okai Attakorah Gibson, some farmers in the constituency are using unapproved methods of clearing their farmlands because of the current economic constraints under the Akufo-Addo-led government.

He expressed worry over the future of Ejura Sekyedumase farmlands if farmers continue to use such unconventional and unapproved methods of land clearing.

Mr Okai Attakorah Gibson further noted that most poultry businesses have folded up in Ejura Sekyedumase because of the high cost of production.

Soya beans, concentrate, wheat bran, and oyster shells that are imported into the country have been seriously affected by the dollar.

Mr Okai Attakorah Gibson appealed to the Minister of Agriculture and President Akufo-Addo to sit up and make sure prices of farm inputs are brought down to the barest minimum for Ghanaian farmers if indeed they are serious about their much-touted ‘Ghana beyond aid’, ‘planting for food and jobs’ and ‘planting for export’ mantras.

Ejura/Seyedumase is known to be the food hub for Ghana in terms of agricultural food products.
The municipality is endowed with fertile and productive agricultural lands that no area in the Ashanti region can rock shoulders with.