The Minority in parliament have accused government of concealing the full facts about the destruction caused by fall armyworms.
“Government is being economical with the situation”, the Minority insisted, indicating they intend embarking on a field assessment of the situation themselves.
Speaking in an interview with Valentina Ofori Afriyie on Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Monday, July 17, Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Eric Opoku, who is the Ranking Member on the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of parliament said: “It looks like it is beyond government’s capability to deal with the situation”.
He said some of the farmers have indicated that the pesticide provided by government is not effective, compelling the farmers to resort to using a mixture of detergents and pepper to fight the worms.
He indicated that maize is a staple crop and government must desist from “trivialising or politicising the issue so that we can tackle the issue squarely because the infestation is now across all the 10 regions”.
Currently, an estimated 20,000 hectares of farm fields have been infected, up from about 1,400 hectares as of April this year. Farmers have made huge losses as a result of the armyworm onslaught.
The pests continue to attack farm fields in various parts of the country despite repeated assurances by government that the situation is under control, thereby giving rise to fears of possible food shortage.
Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Sugri Bambangri, answering questions in parliament on the issue, allayed fears of a possible food shortage. He told Class News plans are far advanced to control the situation.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
