Let’s listen to Prof. Millar!

 Since Ghana is an agrarian country, there is always the need to prioritise issues and practices that can boost agricul­ture production for the benefit of the related value chain.

However, for some time now (since the 1990s), successive gov­ernments have under-performed in the agriculture sector with regard to things like irrigation systems; inputs, certain subsi­dies and services, particularly for small-holder farmers; land acquisition; and positive attitudes towards farmers and their work.

Since all these cannot be tack­led in one breath, The Ghanaian Times wishes to support issues raised by Professor David Millar, the President of the Millar Open University and former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Development Studies (UDS). (See our lead story).

The university don and expert in agriculture has advocated a policy to encourage smallholder farmers to prioritise the use of organic manure over inorganic fertiliser.

The question is why that sug­gestion by the professor?

Organic fertilisers are derived from living things, including plants, animals and manures while inorganic are synthetically derived chemicals and certain minerals from the earth.

Checks by The Ghanaian Times show that organic fertilisers continue to improve the soil long after the plants have taken out the nutrients they need such that the longer the soil is fed with organic fertilisers, the better its composition and texture.

On the other hand, while inor­ganic fertiliser may be cheaper in the short term, it adds less to the soil in the long term.

Therefore, before we look at Prof. Millar’s reasons for his suggestions, we can say even this difference is good enough reason.

This apart, Prof. Millar says the discontinuation of inorganic fertiliser by smallholder farmers would mean a reduction in its heavy importation into the coun­try, which has been costing the country millions of dollars every cropping season.

This reduction is important because the country actual­ly need to save some foreign exchange to address problems related to inputs and other things in the sector whose acquisition is only possible with the use of the foreign exchange.

The fact that commercial farmers can continue to import the inorganic fertiliser means that Prof. Millar is completely against the importation of this kind of fertiliser.

Probably if large-scale farmers import inorganic or chemical fertiliser, the problems associ­ated with it such as late deliv­ery, diversion to neighbouring countries, profiteering and other fraudulent deals would reduce or even stop.

It is clear the professor is so much concerned about the plight of the rural farmer, who is a subsistence farmer who basically produces for local consumption, including the hunger they and their compatriots usually suffer at certain times of the year that needs tackling to ameliorate the suffering of the rural folks.

Certainly, the Professor’s concern about the rural farmer and his compatriots in particular, especially those in the five north­ern regions, must be acknowl­edged and given the necessary attention.

And this means food pro­duction with the aid of organic fertiliser must be seriously prioritised.

There is no doubt that the world is clamouring for organic food because of its better health benefits to the individual com­pared to inorganic food.

We join Prof. Millar in suggesting that the proposed initiative could be piloted in the five northern regions of the country, which are the worst-hit in terms of drought, to test its feasibility and viability and hope the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, would show in this matter his aggressiveness to improve agriculture production in the country.