North East Region: Vegetable farmers lament over poor patronage

Some agriculturists who cultivate vegetables during the dry season at Banawa in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region are worried about the low patronage of their vegetables, especially cabbages, which they say rot easily due to the unavailability of buyers.

The farmers in the area farm different varieties of vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, okra, and onions during this season for commercial purposes.

A cursory observation of the farmlands shows that the vegetables are flourishing well despite the continued gnawing of the pests.

In the same element, the farmers are complaining of the high cost of fertilizer in the market which they say would have helped them to boost production through the planting for food and jobs programme.

The farmers are compelled to develop organic chemicals by using the leaves of a neem tree and the seeds mixed in water which serves as pesticides to spray their vegetables.

Speaking to some of the vegetable farmers, Mohammed Abdul-Rahman said their major challenge is purchasing power.

“Our major challenge is lack of market, secondly wiring, but the major problem is the marketing. So, we don’t know how to sell it. There is no market here. Everything is ready to harvest but nobody comes here to buy it. Secondly, fertilizer, so recently one bag of fertilizer is GHC300. So, the major problem is about the marketing, the wiring, and the weevils are attacking the crops,” he said.

The vegetable farmers in the area are seeking support from the government to attend to them with chemicals that are meant for vegetable growth and fertilizer to rescue the situation for them.

Dokurugu Alhassan

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