With less than two months left before the beginning of the ploughing season, The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has resolved to use drones to measure ploughing fields to avoid late payment of ISPAAD to farmers.
This was said by the Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Beauty Manake in Parliament this week.
“I have also been informed that drones were used in Pandamatenga in the control of the pest infestation which was a big challenge this past ploughing season and their use has been commended as sorghum yield has increased by 10 percent,” Manake said.
She added that the ministry is exploring the use of Information and Communication Technology to address challenges they face on provision of extension services to farmers, and the services will be sourced from local companies.
Another milestone initiative that the ministry is going to implement is the registration and profiling of farmers, which is expected to assist in identifying their specific needs.
“This is in appreciation that farmers have varying capabilities, needs and also designed profile based initiatives which will promote graduation across different farmer categories. From farmer profiling, there would be farm registrations to ensure good agricultural practices for traceability purposes, for the reasons of food safety as described by the ministry of Health and Wellness,” she said.
Manake said that this season the ministry aims to increase agricultural productivity by availing value added agribusiness service advisory, agribusiness enterprise development and capacity building initiatives.
“Furthermore, we are in partnership with the ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to facilitate market access for farmers to cap post-harvest losses and ensure exploring of the agricultural value chains”.
