Kumasi, Aug 06, GNA - Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Asantehene has announced that the Asanteman Council would soon embark on a five-year agro-industrial programme which is aimed at creating permanent jobs for some 30,000 farm workers and 800,000 casual labourers across the country.

He said under the programme, 76 million tonnes of agricultural commodities valued at about 42 billion dollars would be expected to be produced annually.

"I have directed the various paramountcies to release about 500,000 hectares of land for cultivation", the Asantehene said, adding that a number of farm service stations would also be established to ensure easy access to inputs for farming.

The Asantehene disclosed this in a speech read on his behalf by Nana Darko Montwi II, Omanhene of Mabang at the third biennial congress of the Ghana branch of the Sasakawa African Fund for Extension Education (SAFE) Alumni Association in Kumasi at the weekend.

The congress was on the theme, "Towards Achieving the Millennium Development Goal: The Role of Agricultural Development Professionals". The SAFE programme was initiated in the country in 1993 by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) in collaboration with the Nippon Foundation in Japan with the view to strengthening the capacity of agricultural education institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to develop responsive formal continuing education programmes for mid-career agricultural and rural development workers.

Otunfuo Osei Tutu also said crops, which were being targeted for cultivation and production under the five-year programme include groundnuts, soya beans, cowpeas, sunflower and moringa. He pointed out that other crops, which were also being considered include bamboo which will act as wind breaks and Janthropha for bio-diesel fuels, adding, "These crops have a combined effect of providing another crop or group of crops that can rival cocoa and have multiple purpose in the economy".

"During long vocations, the youth would be better off getting employed locally to harvest Janthropha seeds and will receive greater income than travelling overseas to pick apples", the Asantehene said. Otumfuo Osei Tutu stressed the need for a concerted effort to address the constraints, which bedevilled the nation's efforts to improve agricultural production and incomes. This, he said, was the only way the nation could achieve her target of reducing hunger to the barest minimum whilst achieving a higher per capita income levels and thereby reduce poverty of the individual and national level. Mr Osei Nsenkyire, the 2005 National Best Farmer, appealed to agricultural professional associations to always harmonise their activities. 06 Aug. 06