Some farmers in the Sissala East Municipality have become apprehensive over the intermittent rainfall being experienced in the area since the farming season began.
The farmers said the season had not begun well and expressed fear that the late application of fertilizer might affect their crops entirely.
Mr Haruna Shaibu, a commercial maize farmer in the area, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that: “My farm size is about 150 acres and I have planted 150 acres of maize leaving 100 acres yet to be ploughed and planted.
“The last time I sowed was 30th of June 2022. Seven days after sowing, it has not rained again, this has affected the germination of my crops and I am getting scared and now only looking up to God”, he added, and said time was running against him.
Mr Tordia Issahaku, another farmer and a teacher, lamented that since he planted his field from 15th June to 25th June 2022, the rainfall had been poor.
“I planted from 15th to 25th June, as we speak, the last time it rained on the farm was 21st June 2022 and today is 9th July and I used both lake and pioneer seed.
“If this continuous, it will affect the yields, and I should have applied fertilizer two weeks after planting, but for the lack of rain I have not applied fertilizer up till now,” he said.
Mr Musah Iddrissu, also a farmer with Malbastos Ltd, said the poor rainfall pattern in the area had increased the impact of the Fall Armyworm on their farms.
“We have planted 25 acres even though it is not raining we are going ahead to plant, and this has given room for the fall armyworm to attack the plants.
“It’s just that, the plants are germinating but they still need rain to grow, I am hopeful the rain will come,” he intimated.
A 44-year-old woman maize farmer, and a mother of five, told the GNA during a visit to her farm that she had sowed 65 acres of her 151 acres farmland, but the lack of rain was causing pets and rodents to identify the spots and remove the seed causing her the additional cost to replant the seed and hire additional labour.
“My partners fear if I don’t sow by the 15th of July 2022, l should not sow again and all the seeds, as well as other inputs and investments, would go to waste”, she stated.
Mrs Francisca Amartey of the Meteorological Service Department, in an interview with the GNA, blamed the situation on the long dry spell associated with the weather from June to July in the Northern part of Ghana and assured farmers that in the coming days the situation might change.
By Mohammed Balu, GNA
