Ecoland Ghana, an international non-governmental organization and the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies (UCAES) have trained 40 forty young ginger farmers at Bunso and other communities in the Eastern Region to engage in organic farming.
The training was aimed at increasing the cultivation of the root crop to boost production for local consumption and support.
The project was named Ecoland Ghana Organic Agriculture Demonstration and Research Field in partnership with the University College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies.
In the course of the training, high-yielding disease-free ginger seedlings were imported from Nigeria which was demonstrated on a demonstration farm within the premises of the University.
In an address to the participating farmers, the President of Ecoland International, Rudolf Buhler, indicated that the farmers would not be burdened financially since no fertilizer has to be purchased to grow the crop.
He added that all that a farmer needed was animal droppings, especially cow-dung, saying that organic application was not harmful to human beings due to the absence of chemical fertilizers.
According to him, a Diploma programme in organic agriculture on ginger cultivation would be introduced as a programme of study at the university.
He added that the introduction of the new course, research would be conducted and training in organic cultivation of the root crop offered.
The Acting Rector of the University, Dr. Charles Brempong Yeboah, said in Ghana, a lot of universities do not teach organic farming, so UCAES was excited to partner and be assisted by Ecoland to venture into organic mode of farming.
According to him, the high cost of fertilizer has become a burden for farmers thus it had become necessary for farmers to go back to the natural way of cultivation, which is organic farming.
Abiba Iddrisu, one of the young farmers cultivating ginger close to six years mentioned that she has been using chemicals in her cultivation of the ginger crop, but she had realized through the training that although the yield is good, it poses some health risks upon being consumed.
“The high cost of fertilizer has become a burden for farmers thus it had become necessary for farmers to go back to the natural way of cultivation, which is organic farming.”
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