After being crowned as the 2021 Best Farmer at the Ahanta West Municipal Assembly (AWMA), Mr Urias Eshun has opened up on his journey in the agriculture sector.
As a former worker of the Ahantaman Rural Bank, he decided to venture into farming because his parents were once farmers. Following his dream, he resigned from his job and went into farming after realizing that white collared jobs paid less.
Mr Eshun revealed that his years of venturing into the sector since 2017 has seen progress and impacted a lot of lives.
Currently, he can boast about 45 acres of plantain plantation which comes with the cultivation of pepper, tomatoes, maize and garden eggs.
The 56-year old farmer who dreams of being named as the next Regional and National Best Farmer can also boast about huge numbers of workers including 35 women employed in his farm.
On his normal routine, Mr Eshun drives his workers to the farm where works at the farm commence from 4:00 am – 2:00 pm on Mondays to Saturdays excluding Fridays and Sundays.
He acknowledged how the governments’ flagship program of Planting for Food and Jobs have been helpful to the agriculture sector asserting that the Agric Extension Officers have aided farmers over the years with advice on proper methods of farming.
He was of the opinion that the officers were limited in numbers and more should be employed to facilitate the activities of the farmers.
Meanwhile, he revealed that he owns another 50 acres of rubber plantation in other towns which seek to employ more young people in that area.
Touching on challenges that come with the vocation, Mr Eshun said, the cost of weedicide and delays in the supply of fertilizer was a major setback in the sector.
He recounted that fertilizers used to be supplied by the Agriculture Offices where coupons were issued to farmers, but things have changed where farmers now have to get it directly from dealers making it expensive.
Mr Eshun also touched on the unwillingness on the part of financial institutions to offer loans to farmers as these loans come with high interest which deters them from accessing from these banks.
Mr Eshun was, however, thankful that his farm has access to a good road network where farm produce could be transported easily onto the market.
He recounted some of the blessings from the farming and said he has been able to give his wards better education and having mansions to this credit.
Advising the youth, he entreated them to go into farming as it has enormous rewards to it. He also suggested to the organizers of Farmers’ Day to include more agricultural products in the awards to boost the production of food crops.
Story: Benedicta Ackney
