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ReDIAL Project on soil fertility maps has handed over soil maps to key stakeholders for soil improvement in Yendi and surrounding communities.
The project which was launched in Yendi in the Northern Region attracted 47 participants made up of farmers, input dealers, Ministry of Agriculture staff, Yendi Municipal Assembly staff, People with Disabilities (PWD) Multi Stakeholders Dialogue Members, Traditional Authorities, and Assembly Members amongst others.
Mr. Kyereh Boateng, Lecturer of Natural Resources at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) launching the project said data on soil fertility parameters was a prerequisite for soil fertility management.
Site measurement and laboratory analysis of soil fertility parameters before and during crop cultivation, he said remained a big challenge to farmers in Ghana and addressing it would enhance proper famer decisions and policy formulation on crop nutrient management profile soil fertility maps in the Yendi Municipality.
He said that would generate soil fertility maps for the municipality using the levels on Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) and announced that soil fertility status finds out of farmers how to improve on soil fertility all the legumes include soya-beans, maize, are key sustainability of agriculture on food security.
He said it was the first time soil fertility map was launched in the Yendi Municipality, indicating that Friends of the Nation, KNUST, and Tropenbos Ghana were consortium implementing the Research for Development and Innovation Agriculture and Learning (ReDIAL) project funded by European Union (EU).
He said Bini, Zagban, Gbungbaliga, Gukpegu, Kuga, Gnani, Paaduli, Kpassani, Sunson were some of the communities they went and took soil to the laboratory for testing.
Mr. Israel Boateng Yeboah Lecturer of KNUST, Kumasi said on alternatives for improving soil fertility in the Municipality, the farmers should practise crop rotation to economise land and gain from nutrients of previous crops.
He said long term application of synthetic fertilizer affected the Physico-Chemicals properties of the soil and the application of organic fertilizer to the soil enhanced soil properties and increased crop yield.
He said in Ghana only a few farmers used organic fertilizer, giving some alternative soil improvement materials as agriculture waster crop residue (Proka), e.g. maize stover, maize husk, rice stalks, groundnut pods, cowpea pod, waste water from fish ponds.
He announced that animal manure, sheep and goat droppings amongst others were also useful.
Alhaji Abubakari Mohammed the Yendi Municipal Director of Agriculture said they do not have money to buy airtime from the FM stations in the Municipality to educate farmers on ReDIAL project on agriculture and appealed to Friends of the Nation, KNUST and Tropenbos Ghana to sponsor airtime for agriculture programmes to educate the farmers.
Alhaji Shamrock Mahama Yelzoli Tamalnaa thanked EU for funding the ReDIAL project to be extended to the area and appealed to them to extend the project date to 2026 instead of 2024 in the municipality.
Prof. Emmanuel Acheampong another lecturer of KNUST, Kumasi, urged the participants to impact what they had learnt during the launching to their communities to benefit from the soil fertility programme.
Mr. Acheampong who facilitated the programme reminded them that the specific objective was to foster innovation in improving soil fertility in the municipality by generating scientific knowledge and data while applying innovative technology to improve and achieve better results.