Farmers working on a 250-acre Tuba Irrigation Farms in the Ga South municipality of the Greater Accra Region are counting their losses as yellow mosaic disease attacks their crops.
This has made them to lose their investments made in this year’s crop season. Their predicament has also been compounded by erratic power supply which makes regular irrigation on the farms impossible.
The Tuba Irrigation Farm has been serving as source of livelihood for more than three hundred individual farmers since its establishment in the early 80’s. The existence of a vibrant irrigation system has enabled all year-round farming with crop rotation being the preferred agronomic practice by the farmers.
However, farmers cannot boast of crop yields this current farming season following the outbreak of diseases on their crops. Yellow Mosaic transmitted by whiteflies has caused the leaves of key crops cultivated by farmers to curl, turn yellowish and subsequently wither.
This has drastically affected yields of hectors of Okro, pepper, cucumber and cabbage farms. Former Assembly Man for the Tuba Electoral Area, Abdul-Karim Tetteh who doubles as a peasant farmer is gravely affected by the yellow mosaic invasion.
For an acre maize farm he cultivates, he harvests less than a bag. Speaking to 3news.com, he attributed the destruction of their farms to farmers’ inability to procure and cultivate improved seed variety that could withstand pests’ invasion and harsh climatic conditions.
He said, “most of the seeds we cultivate here were extracted from locally produced vegetables and they are not strong to resist the prevailing weather conditions. That is why most of the farmers have lost their farms”.
“We adhere to best agronomic practices so I believe that when we receive improved seeds that can stand the weather conditions, farmers will be better off,” Abdul-Karim Tetteh added.
The source of water for Tuba Irrigation farms is the Densu River, channeled through a canal for irrigation activities.
However, erratic power supply has worsened their plights as water they draw for irrigation is constantly interrupted.
The Field Extension Officer at the Ga South Municipal Assembly, Elizabeth Akaba said the interruption in irrigation services is a contributory factor to the poor crop yield recorded and calls for solution to the power situation.
Farmers at the Tuba Irrigation Farms are beneficiaries of phase 2 of the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme and they want aggregators assigned to the programme to make provision of improved seeds an integral part of the programme.
The farmers are optimistic that this approach will promote sustainable farming while maximizing their fortunes to recoup every pesewa invested in their farms.
By Stanley Nii Blewu
