The Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has assured farmers of the government's commitment to support them with the needed machinery and appropriate technology to modernise agriculture and enhance productivity to ensure food security in the country.
"The days of hoe and cutlass are over; the days of peasant subsistent farming are over. We must apply technology to agriculture. We do not have to leave it to the vagaries of the whether," he stressed.
Mr Mahama gave the assurance yesterday at the 27th National Farmers Day held at Agona Nsaba in the Agona East District in the Central Region.
A 56-year-old farmer, Mr Ignatius Agbo from the Upper Denkyira East municipality in the Central Region, emerged the 2011 National Best Farmer and will receive a three-bedroom house to be built at a place of his choice, a generator, a laptop with a modem, a life insurance policy and a trip to India.
In all, 66 farmers across the country were given awards at similar events held in the regional and district capitals. The day was on the theme: "Grow More Food: Research for Sustainable Agricultural Production".
The day was instituted in 1987 and is held on the first Friday of December every year to reward farmers and fishermen who contribute to the development of agriculture in the country.
The Vice-President said the government wanted farmers to move away from their dependency on the weather to grow their produce to appropriate technology to modernise agriculture and be able to predict yields.
He said it was the desire of the government to see more young and educated people going into agriculture.
Mr Mahama said the agricultural sector faced challenges, including reliance on erratic rainfall, inadequate tractors, low use of modern technology, limited access to financial services and post-harvest losses.
He gave the assurance that the government would intensify support for research institutions to reduce the impact of climate change and assist farmers to address the challenges.
The Vice-President said agriculture continued to contribute significantly to the economy, despite the oil discovery, adding that agriculture contributed 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010, employed 50 per cent of the working class and generated 35 per cent of the country's foreign exchange earnings.
Mr Mahama said increased food production in the country had led to stable food prices, compared to global food price hikes, and reduced inflation from 9.0 per cent in January 2010 to eight per cent in December 2011, the lowest since September 1991.
"The country, since 1990, has recorded a sustained positive growth in per capita food production, compared to many sub-Saharan African countries," he said, stressing that "the phenomenon has contributed to the single-digit inflation of about eight per cent, the lowest in the last two decades".
The Vice-President said today Ghana was self-sufficient in the production of key staples such as cassava, yam, plantain and cocoyam.
Maize production increased from 1.4 million metric tonnes in 2009 to 1.6 million metric tonnes in 2010 and was projected to reach 1.9 million metric tonnes at the end of this year, he said.
"Paddy rice production rose from 302,000 metric tonnes in 2009 to 391,000 metric tonnes in 2010 and is projected to reach 492,000 metric tonnes at the end of this year," he said.
Mr Mahama gave the assurance that notwithstanding the erratic rainfall, another success in food production would be achieved this year.
"Preliminary assessment of food production for the 2011 cropping season shows that total cereal production is expected to increase from 2.9 million metric tonnes in 2010 to about 3.5 million metric tonnes this year, while total root, tuber and plantain production is to increase from 24.3 million metric tonnes in 2010 to 25.1 million metric tonnes in 2011," he said.
The Vice-President noted that with the increased world population, food security would become an important issue in the next two decades.
To arrest the situation, he said, the government had initiated projects, including the establishment of the National Food Buffer Stock Company and support for research institutions to find out appropriate ways, of increasing productivity.
Mr Mahama congratulated the award winners on their achievement and thanked all farmers for producing food to feed the public and provide raw materials for industry.
The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, stressed the need for the country to increase agricultural production to ensure food security.
He said the government intended to highlight the indispensable role research played in agricultural development.
"It is hoped that by encouraging the stakeholders in the agricultural sector and the people of Ghana to embrace research and development as a pivotal support to the main value chain activities, the delicate balance between agricultural productivity, on one hand, and farmers' incomes and sound environmental management, on the other, can be maintained," he said
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