The Minister Designate for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong says government’s flagship program, Planting for Food and job has so far been successful in contributing to food availability in the country.
According to him, there has been an improvement in the yields of rice, soya bean, and maize since the introduction of the program, adding that it has been achieving surpluses.
He disclosed this before the vetting committee when responding to the progress of the program.
” Planting for Food and Jobs is a solid program that was conceptualised and implemented by this government.
In 2016, our yield was about 1.6 metric tonnes per hectare. Today, the yield is around 4 metric tonnes. For rice, we are producing around 2.7 metric tonnes, today we are about 4.5 metric tonnes, and for soybeans, we were about 2.7, today we are about 4.
These are some of the things that the Planting for Food and Jobs has done. They have improved the yields such that the sector growth rate which was in 2016 hovering around 2.7 percent today is averaging about 6 percent.
So if you look at all the metrics under the Planting for Food and Jobs and all the grains except for rice we have been achieving surpluses from 2016 to date. In terms of contributing to ensure that there is food available, the planting for food and job has been relatively successful,” He said.
