About Five Hundred cocoa farmers from the Nsawam-Adoagyiri Municipality in the Eastern Region, have taken delivery of 100,000 seedlings and quantities of fertilisers for this year’s planting season.

The beneficiary communities are Pakro, Otu Kwadwo, Fahiako, Asiawkrom and Ahyirensu-Yeboakrom.

This formed part of COCOBOD’s initiative to distribute 50 million cocoa seedlings free of charge to farmers across the country.

The Health and Extension Service, the implementer, has put in place measures to fast-track distribution.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after a farmers’ rally at Pakro, Mr. Michael Gyasi, the Suhum Cocoa District Officer, with additional responsibility as the officer-in–charge of the programme, said with the change in rain pattern, farmers were readily planting the seedlings.

He said the application of the ‘Lithovit Foliarar’ (liquid) fertilisers on their farms, under the programme, was also on course.

Mr. Gyasi said the rationale for the free distribution of seedlings and fertilisers to cocoa farmers was to help increase their yield; ease their financial burdens; and curb the decline of cocoa production.

“But farms infested with the cocoa swollen shoot virus do not qualify for the fertiliser package,” he explained, and therefore, asked farmers to cut down such trees and plant new seedlings.

Prior to the distribution of the items, the beneficiaries were registered by the Health and Extension Service of COCOBOD, which measured their farms to determine allocation per farmer, he said, adding; “This aims at promoting the wide usage of fertilisers.”

Mr. Gyasi said farmers had since the inception of the exercise, been educated on the consequences of diverting the allocation of inputs, fertilisers.

Opanin Alex Appiah, Pakro Chief Farmer, described the gesture as wonderful and expressed optimism that cocoa farmers in the area would work hard by ensuring that they collaborated effectively to help boost COCOBOD’s efforts to meet the target of one million metric tonnes of cocoa produced as the years rolled-by.

He also urged his colleagues to heed to the advice given them by the cocoa extension officers on the use of cocoa fertilisers to help achieve the desired result, adding; “This is a unique gesture for poverty alleviation”.

Thousands of cocoa farmers from the Suhum, and West Akim Municipalities had earlier taken delivery of their consignments.

According to the Ghana Cocoa Board, cocoa employs about 800,000 farm families spread over six of the 10 regions of Ghana, while it generates about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.

It is also a major contributor to Government Revenue and GDP.