The Produce Buying Agency has organised a farmers rally at Acquay-Allah in the Aowin-Suaman District of the Western Region to explain the modalities for the distribution of farm inputs and the guidelines for credit sales to cocoa farmers. Addressing the rally, the Enchi “B” District Manager of the Company, Mr.. Eric Duah, said a farmer will bave to go to the district stores of the Cocoa Inputs Company with his passbook to collect his input requirements on the payment of a deposit. He said a farmer has to deposit four thousand cedis for a knapsack sprayer and 60 thousand cedis for a mistblower. For insecticides, the deposit is 200 cedis per litre. According to Mr.. Duah, the records of sales in a farmers passbook will be used as a guide to ascertain input requirement. The Quality Control Officer, Mr.. Mathew Adolph Owusu, told the farmers to ferment the beans for six days to help maintain the quality to achieve the grade one which is saleable in overseas markets. The farmers appealed to the government to supply them with the inputs at society levels instead of traveling long distances to the stores of the Cocoa Inputs Company in the district capitals. The District Chief Farmer, Nana Philips Amoah, urged cocoa farmers to embrace the new system while negotiations continue with the government for a reduction in the prices of the inputs.
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