Efforts at increasing local rice production to fight poverty has received a huge boost as more farmers of the Golinga Irrigation Scheme in the Northern Region are assisted to produce certified improved seeds for cultivation.
This is being spearheaded by AfricaRice in partnership with the Savanna Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) and funded by theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Rice Seed Scaling Project (RSSP).
Dr. Boubakary Cisse, the Project Coordinator, said the goal was to encourage the use of quality and high yielding seeds to raise production levels and improve the livelihood of the farmers.
The other high points of the project include right seed planning, connecting and strengthening the capacity of actors along the rice seed value chain, facilitate access to equipment and proper storage.
He mentioned the Food and Agriculture Ministry (MoFA), private seed companies and seed producer groups, input dealers, private extension companies and rice innovation platforms in two regions - Northern and Upper East, as the major partners.
Dr. Cisse told news after touring rice fields in Golinga that he was satisfied with the enthusiastic response of farmers to the project and said there could be no doubt that this would ensure food security and lift the people out of poverty.
The RSSP was launched in April, this year, to among other activities expose rice seed producers to the quality seed production techniques and promote the use of quality seeds by paddy rice producers.
In line with this it had set up 75 demonstration farms across the two northern regions.
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