CHEMICALS meant for Ghana’s free mass cocoa spraying exercise are being sold by agro-chemical sellers at Elubo in the Western Region of Ghana.
The chemicals are sold at exorbitant prices due to high demand.
Joy News’ Kwetey Nartey investigated the trend when he paid a visit to the border town and reports that traders there are making fortunes selling the chemicals which are meant to be free.
Kofi Red is an agro-chemical retailer. His shop is among the chain of agro-chemical stalls at the Elubo 18 market.
Kwetey in his investigation was able to buy GHȻ3,000 worth of Confidor and Ridomil, chemicals which were not supposed to be sold on the market and are meant solely for the mass cocoa spraying exercise.
The chemicals are not kept at Kofi Red’s shop. He hides his stock in his house. They are wrapped in Pepsodent cartons to prevent suspicion.
Kwamina Issaka is a chief cocoa farmer at Tweako – a farming community in the Jomoro District of the Western Region and is in charge of the mass cocoa spraying exercise there.
He charges every farmer GHȻ5.00 for the carting of chemicals, petrol, and maintenance of spraying guns used for the exercise.
Those who fail to pay this amount do not benefit from the exercise which is supposed to be free.
But in a bid to justify his action, Issaka said the farmers are charged the extra amount in order to maintain equipment used for the exercise.
He also indicated that because some of the farms were big and could take up to about 60 bottles of the sprays, charging extra was necessary in order to ensure that all farms are catered for.
The situation is no different at Old Ankaasa.
Supervisor of the exercise, Isaac Buabeng, charges the community farmers from GHȻ1 to GHȻ10 depending on the size of your farm under mass cocoa spraying exercise.
Mr Buabeng says they only spray the cocoa of the farmers only once though it was supposed to be twice during the exercise.
He blames it on the unfair distribution of the chemicals to the supervisors and that even though agric officials have been informed of the situation; nothing had been done about it.
The cocoa mass-spraying exercise was instituted in 2001 by the Ghana Cocoa Board to support cocoa farmers eliminate cocoa diseases and help increase production.
More than $200 million has been invested by government into the exercise so far.
But, Chairman of the Jomoro Cocoa Farmers Association, Paul Cudjoe argues that the mass cocoa spraying exercise is rather causing a decline in cocoa production.
He said spraying the farms only once within a year does not stop insects from attacking the pods.
High humidity in the areas where the farms are located according to him, fuels the growth of insects that need to be gotten rid of regularly, not only once and that until a constant spraying mode is adopted, nothing will change.
While the poor cocoa farmers rely on fake agro-chemicals to fight diseases and insecticides, the sprayers are battling with lack of logistics.
This year, COCOBOD did not provide the sprayers with boots and gloves. Isaac Buabeng relies on slippers to carry out his duties having in mind the glaring dangers.
Myjoyonline.com/ African Eye News.com
