Agricultural Engineering Services

The RADU, engineering unit has 3 core functions namely;

1.  Mechanization – (farm power and machinery)

2.  Soil and water management

3.  Post harvest management

Agricultural Mechanisation Services Centres (AMSECs)

Four (4) Agricultural Mechanisation Services Centres set up along the coast, major ploughable areas of the region. They constituted the major source of mechanised services to the Block Farm Project in the Central Region.

Each has the following equipment/ Machinery

- 5 tractor heads of (54 hp- 65hp) various bands.

- Land preparation implements (Gang Disc plough, harrows, Riggers and Trailers).

-  Some of the centres have other equipment like, maize shelters, 4-6 Row planters and 10m Span Boom Sprayers.

Sale Of Tractors/Equipment

The Central Regional MoFA has in stock

• Power tillers
• Irrigation pumps
• Irrigation  sprinkler systems
• Various brands of tractors (out of stock)
• These are sold to farmers on hire purchase based.

Asuansi Agricultural Research Station

Located in the Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese District.

• Wing of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
• Raises tree crop seedlings for sale to farmers
• Sale of fruits (coconut, oil palm and citrus) to the public.
• Management of citrus germ plasm
• Multiplication of planting materials and
• Conduct research and adaptive trials in collaboration with research institutions.
• Staff Strength 18, Male = 16 and Female = 2

Asuansi Farm Institute

• Located near the Agricultural Research Station
• Training of farmers in improved crop and livestock production technologies and non – traditional areas like beekeeping, mushroom production, snail production among others.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Inland Valleys Rice Development Project

The objective of the project in the Assin North Municipality is to increase the incomes of smallholder rice producers in the project area by increasing the production of good quality rice through the adoption of good agricultural practices.

The operations of the project in the Assin North area therefore, was centered on activities aimed at achieving the above objectives. The focus of the activities were under the five (5) main project components namely

• Land development and management

A total of 64.79 ha of land in designated valleys at Assin Bereku, Assin Asempanaye and Assin Akropong was                      awarded on contract and is at various level of development. Developed lands are expected to be made available                for rice production in the year.

• Apart from what the project is developing farmers within the project catchment area also developed a total of 22.4 hectares manually which was put under production. Estimated yield for farmers under the project was 3.38 metric tones per Hectare.
• Upgrading and construction of two (2) access roads to valleys in Assin Bereku and Assin Asempanaye were completed in 2010.The total length of the access roads created is 2.8km. The rehabilitated and newly constructed roads are to enhance the carting of paddy from the fields to the processing points.
• Credit for crop development
• Linking Rice farmers and groups to Agricultural Development Bank and other sources for credit
• Capacity building
• Training of farmers in good agriculture practices in rice agronomy, post harvest handling, rice processing and marketing
• Education on health and environmental issues
• Adaptive research
• Rice varietal trials and farming systems
• Project coordination

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Programme

• 55 groups comprising 2,575 members have been formed.
• Starter Pack (SP) supplied to 2,661 farmers in the Gomoa East, Gomoa West, Effutu and Awutu Senya Districts for the 2010 major farming season.
• A starter pack of 9kg seed maize, 2 bags of NPK fertilizer, 1 bag of Sulphate of Ammonia fertilizer, 1 respirator and 1 pair of Wellington boots was given to each farmer.

Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP)

It is mandated to build a competitive and market based root and tuber commodity chain including:

• Development of the cassava industry through planting material multiplication and processing of produce into Gari, cassava dough, Tapioca, starch and flour.
• Processing sweet  potato into Potaghurt (Women in the Central Region have been trained)
• Quality cassava flour and starch processing (Tropical Starch Factory at Abura Dunkwa).
• 493 farmers and agro processors sensitized on improved Gari processing under the Micro Enterprise Fund (MEF).
• To access stainless steel graters, engines, screw press, smokeless stoves among others.
• Participating financial institutions (Assinman and Bawjiase Rural Banks).
• Beneficiaries                                – 10% of the full cost of the equipment.
• RTIMP (grant)                – 30%.
• Rural Bank (credit)                    -60%
• Good practice processing centre (GPC)  -  Abura Dunkwa
• 50 agro processors trained in business management.
• 15 agro processors trained in business plan development.

Farmer-Based Organisations

• A total of 264 FBOs have been formed and registered with DADUs
• 156 production groups formed (producing cassava, maize, sweet potato, vegetables, rice, pineapple, citrus, cashew and woodlot, coconut, poultry, small ruminants, pigs, grasscutter, fish farming, beekeeping, sericulture)
• 108 processing groups into processing cassava into gari, fish processing, oil palm into palm oil and palm kernel oil, and rice milling.

Collaboration With Development Partners

Fertilizer Subsidy Programme

In 2009, the coupon system was used and in 2010, the Waybill/Receipt System is being used.

IRRIGATION

The region has 2 irrigation sites at

• Mankessim (vegetable and fruit production)
• Okyereko (Rice production)

• A number of Small Scale Irrigation Schemes scattered in the region

There is promotion of small scale irrigation schemes using the 6.5 hp and 17 hp pumps, since the region is with water sources.

Kindly contact the Central Regional Office for information /data in machinery situation and the location of various agro-processors, agro-processing fabrication shops and grain storage facilities within the region.

EXTENSION SERVICES

FARMER REGISTRATION

Farmer registration exercise is in progress.  A total of 17,585 farmers have been registered.

• 7,632 females
• 9,953 males

AUDIO VISUAL VANS

The MoFA, Central Region took delivery of 2 Ford Everest Mobile Information Vans equipped with modern audio – visual equipment for disseminating improved technologies to the masses.

Vans have been used to educate farming communities in the Central Region on modern agricultural production recommendations and to provide agricultural related information and other emerging issues to farmers.

Documentaries on cockerel production, maize cultivation and processing for grains and seed and beekeeping are some of the learning materials being developed for farmers.

ACHEIVEMENTS (2008 – 2010)

BLOCK FARM (MAIZE GRAIN/SEED PRODUCTION)

• With the other staples notably maize, modest gains have been chalked.
• Block Farm Project, an intervention in food security by the government was implemented in ten (10) districts.

Grain maize                – 481.25 hectares

Seed maize                – 279.4 hectares

• Inputs supplied to farmers included:

The cost of land preparation, seed, agro – chemicals (fertilizers, weedicides and pesticides).

• Direct beneficiaries

Grain farmers                        – 623 (601males and 22 females)

Seed growers                        -47

• Indirect beneficiaries                        -1,823.

• Indicate crop yield or production level.

BLOCK FARM (VEGETABLE AND RICE PRODUCTION)

The minor season vegetables and rice Block farms commenced in the beginning of the minor season of 2010.  Ten (10) Metro/Mun/District Directorates were involved in the vegetable component whiles one (1) was engaged in rice production.

A total of 103.04 hectares of land was put under vegetable production. Some of the vegetables cultivated included pepper, garden eggs, okra, and cabbage among others.  Apart from the Mfantseman Municipal which undertook the production under Irrigation at Baafikrom the rest cultivated at low land areas and also under rainfed conditions.  Farmers at Baafikrom had their fields ploughed two times to enhance farming activities.

The numbers of farmers who were involved in the vegetable component totalling 294 made up of 239 males and 55 females.

The rice Block Farm was undertaken mainly by the Okyereko Rice Growers Cooperative at the Okyereko Irrigation site. A total of 106 farmers made up of 66 males and 40 females were involved.  A total of 50 hectares of land was under production and at various stages of development. Farmers who planted very early were expected to start harvesting by the end of March. A total of 250 bags of NPK and 250 bags of SOA were supplied to the rice farmers under the Block Farm Project.

COCKEREL PROJECT

• To improve the incomes of farmers as an alternative livelihood, the government has introduced the Cockerel Project which is aimed at supplying improved cockerels to rural households.
• Currently, 391 (260 males and 131 females) low income farm households supplied with 7,182 cockerel chicks.
• 7 training workshops on biosecurity were organized for poultry and livestock farmers during the year.
• Out of Seventeen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety – One Ghana Cedis Fifty Ghana Pesewas (GH ¢17,791.50), Thirteen Thousand, Five Hundred and Seventy – Six Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 13,576.50) had been recovered representing 76.3%. Outstanding debts stand at Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifteen Ghana Cedis (GH¢ 4,215.00).

INVESTMENT POTENTIALS

• Good raw material base: (citrus, pineapple, cocoa, cassava, fisheries, oil palm
• Availability of arable lands over 2500sq km under develop
• Processing companies (TOPP, CGL, Mandies, Fruittiland, Ameen Sanghari, Ayensu starch)
• Water bodies (sea- longest coast line, streams, rivers)
• Existence of development partners
• NGOs, CEDECOM, Financial institutions
• Bi-modal rainfall pattern
• Available institutions : universities, NBSSI, Research, Metro, GRATIS, Polytechnics, MoFA, IDA, EPA
• Labour force /manpower
• Availability of data on agric
• Strategic location of the region to the ports in Ghana.
• High tourism potential
• Potential for commercial production of animals
• Existence of abandoned agric infrastructure
• Emerging road side marketing