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The President of the Bee Keepers Association of Ghana has dissuaded Ghanaian youth from seeing farming as a “dirty business” or a “dirty job” or as some kind of punishment.
Mr. Patrick Addy Newman who made the assertions on Rite FM’s agric flagship program, Agric Forum said that the youth adopting the modern way of farming would make their work faster and easier for export and also a good source of income, adding that sticking to obsolete means of farming will only continue to lead to low productivity which in the end will only discourage the country’s youth from taking up farming as a profession.
“Some youth see the farming business as a dirty job or punishment but adopting the modern ways of farming will make their work faster and easier for export and also provide them with a good source of income but if we continue with the old method of farming like the use of cutlass, hoe, etc. then we cannot be productive and that will also discourage the younger ones,” he stressed.
The President of the Bee Keepers Association of Ghana also noted that the quest for modern means of farming in these current times which requires the use of machines and a lot of equipment cannot be compromised.
He recounted how teachers and school heads in the olden days resorted to the use of weeding in schools as a form of punishment which created the perception that farming was some form of punishment.
He compared the situation to foreign countries where farmers are the rich because they raise Agri-business sector through agric mechanization and equipment to make farming easier.
“In the olden days, people thought farming was punishment because students were asked to weed but in the foreign countries, farmers are the rich people, raising the Agri-business with agric mechanization and equipment to make farming easier,” he said.
Mr. Newman warned that the country risks losing a lot if it stuck to the use of outdated farming methods coupled with the youth who do not have the passion for farming since the population is rising and expanding.
He emphasized in that the use of chemicals in farming must also be stopped because such chemicals kill most creatures such as snails, rather insisting that farmers must adopt the use of organic manure for their farming activities.
He called for some basic training on the application of manure on farms, insisting that the country is better off producing its own “natural food” and also have natural lands or farming environments without any chemicals.
By: Nana Ama Sarfo | ritefmonline.org
