Farmers in the Kumawu and Sekyere Afram Plains districts in the Ashanti Region are recording significant increase in crop yield with the introduction of an improved method of yam cultivation.
The New York University Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED) exposed the farmers to the ‘Ridge’ system of yam production as part of a commitment to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Ghana.
Farmers in the two districts are engaged in the production of maize, plantain and yam.
But poverty is rife, mainly due to the inability of the farmers to increase yields and lack of access to markets for farm produce.
Yam producers are especially challenged in the high cost and time. Land preparation for yam cultivation does not also make farming attractive.
To ease the challenges farmers go through in cultivation and harvesting, the New York University Center for Technology and Economic Development (CTED) introduced the farmers to a new cost-effective method in yam production.
The ‘Ridge’ method of planting was introduced to replace the traditional mound system of production.
The new method can be mechanized because it is being done in a row without gaps between each tuber of yam. The mound is the old method of planting yam with gaps between each tuber of yam.
Because the ridge method can be mechanized, farmers say it makes planting and harvesting easier and the land is not under-utilized.
A beneficiary farmer, Emmanuel Nyamekye, is now harvesting about 8,000 tubers of yam on an acre of land compared to the 2,000 tubers he used to harvest.
“With the mound method of planting, the maximum I was able to harvest on an acre of land was 2,000 tubers of yam but after trying the ridge method, I am able to harvest between 6,000 to 8,000 tubers of yam on the same acre of land,” he said.
He is enthused at the benefit he and his colleague farmers are reaping from the new farming method.
The Centre has also created access to markets for the farmers to sell their produce at competitive prices.
“The creation of access to competitive market for us has improved our income significantly because we no more sell our farm produce at a cheap price for fear of watching out produce perish. People rather call us and bid for competitive prices,” said one farmer Mavis Osei.
The Director for NYU CTED and Africa House, Professor Yaw Nyarko, said the centre is committed to supporting smallholder farmers to earn good income from the farming activities.
“We are developing apps to help smallholder farmers and also engaging them to new farming practices which will boost their yields and also enhance their livelihood. We are able to tell farmers the exact acreage of their farms to help them know the number of persons they will need to work on the farm. Our apps provide the farmers with access to market for their produce just after harvest.”
The Country Director of International Growth Center, Dr Nii Sowa, lauded the effort by CTED to help farmers sell their produce at competitive prices.
He was of the view that creating access to ready market for farmers encourages them to expand their business. This he added will increase the income of the farmers and also strengthen food security in the country.
The New York University Center for Technology and Economic Development has been interacting with farmers and agric directors to devise strategies to make farming profitable and beneficial to farmers in Ghana.
Meanwhile, Professor Yaw Nyarko has launched an Education Fund Scheme to support needy but brilliant students in and around Kumawu.
Seven students will be awarded an amount of GH¢2,000 each as scholarship package for their second cycle education.
The Paramount Chief of Kumawu, Barima Sarfo Tweneboah Kodua, lauded the project and advised the first batch of beneficiaries to devote themselves to their books.
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