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Nandom, Ghana – A 61-year old middle school leaver and a mother of five from Bekyerdergangn, a farming community near Kokoligu in the Nandom District of the Upper West Region has been adjudged the best District Farmer for 2018.
Mrs. Juliana Bele-ire, who has been farming on her own for the past 38 years, was presented with a motortricycle, knapsack sprayer, cutlasses and other farm implements.
She emerged 4th at the District Farmers Day awards in 2017 but was determined to get to the ultimate this year.
The 2018 District Best Farmer for Nandom has 14 acres of Maize, 16 acres of Sorghum, 10 acres of Groundnuts, 8 acres of Cowpea, 2 acres of Soya beans, 1 acre of rice, 2 acres of Bambara beans and 2 acres of Millet.
In addition to crop production, Madam Juliana also rears sheep, goats, pigs, fowls and donkeys.
She has nine employees on her farms in addition to the support she gets from her husband and children.
She has been described by extension officers as a dedicated, hardworking and enterprising woman.
Mr. Cornelius Vuol from Tokuu also in the Nandom District was the First Runner-up. He received a motorbike and other farming equipment.
The District Chief Executive for Nandom, Thaddeus Arkum Aasoglenang, said the government’s flagship agriculture programme dubbed “PLANTING FOR FOOD AND JOBS”, which was launched in April last year, was targeted at tackling a twin nagging problem of migration of youth to city centres in search of non-existing jobs, and secondly, reducing the importation of food from neighboring countries.
Agriculture grew from 3.1% in 2016 to 8.4% in 2017 under the programme. This was after a decade of erratic performance in the sector.
Mr. Aasoglenang said government will launch the livestock model of the Planting for Food and Jobs in 2019 called “Rearing for Food and Jobs”.
By Savannahnewsonline.com/Stephen Kobom
