GRi BEF News

GRi BEF News Ghana 19 - 02 - 2001

Bolgatanga (Upper East) 19 February 2001

Tomato farmers in the Upper East Region are expressing fear that they would suffer losses in the next few weeks when market queens from Accra start buying the produce from neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Tomato is usually cheaper in Burkina Faso and Ghanaian market queens rather buy from there and ignore the region's produce, which finally perishes.

Mr. Roy Ayariga, an agronomist at the regional directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga on Friday that last year, at a time that a crate of tomatoes in Burkina Faso cost about 50,000 cedis, the same quantity sold at between 80,000 and 100,000 cedis in the region.

He explained that the local farmers could not afford to sell at such low prices due to the prevailing high production cost as against Burkina Faso where production is subsidised and therefore cheaper for the farmers.

Mr. Ayariga said due to this practice, a lot of farmers lost last year and have not cultivated tomato this year.

"I am afraid, if this continues, our farmers will be knocked out of production and the country will have to depend on her neighbours for tomatoes during the dry season", he added.

Mr. Ayariga said the region is capable of producing enough tomato to meet local demand, and appealed to the government to raise tariffs on such products so as to discourage its importation.

Mr. Richard Adongo, tomato farmer in the region said the overall tomato harvest this year would be relatively low, since many people have opted out.

He said the production cost is high, "and since the market is unreliable, it is usually a gamble that we take as one can easily loose a lot if he is not lucky to harvest at a time that prices are good."

At the beginning of the harvesting period, in January this year, a crate of tomato sold at 200,000 cedis but has since fallen to l80,000 cedis as more farmers harvest to satiate the market with the commodity.

One hectare of land around the Tono irrigation dam cost 200,000 cedis while a bag of fertiliser is sold at between 90,000 cedis and 66,000 cedis depending on the variety.

GRi…/

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