Let’s use mechanization to address food security challenges — Agric Ministry

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has asked farmers to consider
mechanization as a way of addressing issues of food security.

The Ministry said challenges such as erratic rainfall, over-aged farming
population, high demand for quality produce, would require the adoption of
engineering technologies.

“Presently, there is recognition from stakeholders for the need to increase
mechanization right across the agriculture value chain, thus from land
preparation, planting, crop maintenance through to harvesting and handling of
produce,” Mr. Patrick Ohene Aboagye, Deputy Director of Agric Engineering
Services Directorate said.

He was speaking on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie
Akoto, at the launch of the Massey Ferguson (MF) range of agricultural
machinery product in Accra by Mechanical Lloyd PLC held under the theme,
“Born to Farm.”

The Minister said the need to increase agricultural productivity to feed the increasing population led the government to embark on planting for food and jobs in 2017 to revive agriculture and make it a catalyst for economic development.

Despite the interventions, he said approximately 70 percent of farmers in Ghana
still operated at a small scale level with basic traditional tools of farming, which contributed to about 65 percent of agricultural output.

“It is estimated that about 8 million hectares of Ghana’s land are considered
suitable for mechanized farming. However, due to limited availability and poor
access to suitable farm power, less than 30 percent of the productive area is
cultivated,” he said.

The Minister noted that factors such as poor after-sale service, selection of
wrong machinery for the local terrain, limited skills as well as poor
management skill had in the past led to low output from mechanization
intervention, which had caused a dip in the enthusiasm of international partners to champion mechanization.

“Additionally, some articles gave an erroneous impression that mechanization
was not an economically viable venture” he added.

Dr. Akoto said that the adoption of the mechanization approach would lead to the
increase of more commercially viable farms and increased productivity of food
crops, adding that “it is our hope that people will embrace the concept of the
need to farm, given the appropriate set of mechanization input to contribute to
food security and emergency preparedness.”

Mrs. Kalysta Darko-O’kell, the Managing Director of Mechanical Lloyd PLC, which
is the sole distributor of MF products in the country, said agriculture, directly and indirectly, impacted the lives of Ghanaians and was, “the reason the Company remains committed to providing world-class products and services.”

On display at the launch were Massey Ferguson MF 2168 Rice Combine Harvester capable of harvesting rice under extreme conditions and MF 5700
Global series ideally suited for a wide range of fieldwork and transport.

The rest were other MF range of tractors that include MF 375 as well as harrows,
ploughs, planters, sprayers, balers trailers, among others.

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