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Government on Thursday launched the �Enhanced Access to Quality Rice Seed Initiative,� to ensure that small holder farmers have access to sufficient and quality seeds to promote rice production in the country. The initiative, supported by the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), seeks to introduce rice varieties to farmers, by establishing clustered mass multiplication zones across the country. Under the initiative, seeds of three aromatic varieties; Gbewa (Jasmie 85), Togo Marshall and CSIR-AGRA Rice, which were recently released, have been earmarked for mass production within the clusters. The initiatiative has become necessary in view of the fact that known seed companies and the current state of the public seed systems are unable to meet farmers� seed requirements. Dr Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture in-charge of Crops, who launched the initiative in Tamale on Thursday, said �The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is bent on ensuring increased and sustained domestic production of good quality rice for food security, import substitution and enhanced livelihoods.� Dr Yakubu said government was concerned about the seed industry hence the putting in place of the National Seed Policy to support the development and establishment of the seed industry. He said as part of the roll out of the initiative, four seed multiplication zones would be created to ensure equitable distribution of seeds to all parts of the country. He said �for the 2014 cropping season, 1,000 rice and grain growers in the Ashanti and Northern Regions are to be supplied with 24,000 kilogrammes of CSIR-AGRA Rice seed,� adding, �as the seed base expands more farmers will be enrolled onto the initiative.� According to 2013 statistics, rice consumption in Ghana stands at 660,000 metric tonnes per year, but the country produces only 60 per cent of the requirement, leaving a shortfall of 40 per cent, hence the initiative to improve rice production. Dr Wilson Dogbe, Head of Rice Programme at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research � Savana Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), who spoke on �CSIR-AGRA Rice: Development, Field Testing and Potential,� said �CSIR-AGRA Rice is adapted to the irrigated and favourable lowland ecologies and matures in 125 days, thus making it 10 to 15 days longer in duration than Gbewa rice.� Madam Azare Ali Mamshie, Project Coordinator of WAAPP, said it would help to promote the newly released seeds to enable farmers have access to them to ensure that food security was attained.