Close to 900,000 cashew seedlings have been distributed to some 15,000 farmers in 550 communities across all eleven (11) Municipalities and Districts of the Upper West Region under government’s Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD).
According to figures from the Upper West Regional Department of Agriculture, the Wa West District has the most communities benefitting from the PERD while the Jirapa Municipality is the district with the least number of communities under the program.
The Wa West District also produced and distributed 270,680 cashew seedlings; the most seedlings distributed under the PERD program in the region while 9,000 cashew seedlings were produced and distributed to 80 farmers in the Jirapa Municipality representing the area with the least production and distribution of seedlings.
The Daffiama-Bussie-Issa (DBI) District has the most farmers under the program. This includes 1,048 females and 2,912 males making a total of 3,960 farmers in 38 communities cultivating 200,000 cashew seedlings.
In an interview with GBC, the Upper West Regional Crops Officer, Huudu Abu explained that the implementation of the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) can be considered successful in the Upper West Region.
Mr. Abu mentioned that a high yielding cashew variety was identified by the National Crops Department under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in Wenchi. The variety of cashew was then raised and distributed to the various Municipal and District Assemblies for onward distribution to the farmers.
The Regional Crops Officer encouraged the farmers to be wary about bush fires, particularly during this dry period. He also advised the farmers to water the seedlings when they can to ensure that they survive the long dry period while reporting any abnormalities to the Department of Agriculture for quick assistance.