The Dormaa West Assembly has said it would strictly monitor beneficiary farmers of 5000 certified improved oil palm seedlings supplied under the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme for cultivation, to enhance their livelihoods.
Mr Francis Kwadwo Oppong, the District Chief Executive (DCE) said this at a presentation ceremony of the seedlings to the farmers at Nkrankwanta, the District capital in the Bono Region.
He said the seedlings were procured from Kade in the Eastern Region, and each farmer was expected to receive 60 of them to plant on an acre of farmland each year.
A team of the Assembly officials would be conducting routine checks and follow-ups to the farm sites to ascertain whether the seedlings had been duly cultivated by the farmers, Mr. Oppong said.
He announced that an additional 10,000 seedlings would be nursed next year for free distribution, and therefore asked interested farmers to register with the Assembly to be included when the distribution commences.
“It’s expected by the end of five-year period, each beneficiary farmer would have had between four to five acres of oil palm plantation in furtherance to the good work started by my predecessor”, Mr. Oppong said, adding that, similar initiative would be extended to farmers interested in coconut cultivation.
He assured the farmers there was market in place to buy their harvested produce, in addition to an existing factory in the area that has the capacity to process large quantities of harvested oil palm fruits if expanded through an arrangement under the One-District, One-Factory programme.
Mr Paul Kofi Avah, the District Director of Agriculture promised to support the farmers with requisite technical know-how through agriculture extension agents in communities in the district.
By Robert Tachie Menson, GNA
