Farmers in Bolgatanga troubled over lack of rains

Correspondence from Upper East Region

Farmers in Bolgatanga, in the Upper East Region, have bemoaned the lack of rain for some weeks now.

At the moment, the lack of rain is causing the majority of the crops to wither. The farmers are concerned that their harvests might eventually fail if the scenario persisted.

Some of them spoke to GhanaWeb's Upper East Regional Correspondent, Sarah

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Mr. Atuah lamented that the lack of rain has slowed the growth of their crops, with some on the point of extinction.

He explained that under typical conditions, groundnut plants should have reached the blooming stage by now, but there are no visible signs of flowering.

"Now we are expecting that the groundnuts would be at the flowering stage, but because there is no rain, they are not flowering and some of them are even dying," He said.

Mr Atuah further stated that the situation was not different with millet and corn.

"Some of the corn are also dying, and millet are also dying. Even now, with millet, they are supposed to grow, but because the rain has stopped, they are not doing well, so we don't know what will happen," He pointed.

Another farmer, Mr. Aniah Ayariga, pointed out that the situation was disturbing because they were worried about their crops and are desperately waiting for the rains to fall.

" The millet (first crop always planted and harvested)was doing well, but when the rain stopped for a long time, it did not produce the millet seeds again. You know, when it is time for them to produce the millet and the rain delays, they don't produce again. They will just be there like that," he reiterated.

Mr. Moses Abindau bemoaned the fact that, contrary to the norm, there had been little rain in July this year.

"We are in the seventh month and yet, the rains are not falling. Withthout rain, our crops will not do well. This is the time for us to get more rain in terms of farming."

He added that this year's food scarcity was ultimately caused by a similar circumstance to previous year's.

He prayed that rain would fall so that the Region's food situation would look better than it has in recent years and in years to come.