Mampong (Ash), Oct. 12, GNA - Mr James Larbi, Cashew Processing and Marketing Specialist of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), on Friday asked cashew farmers not to let the initial problems they face in the sale of the crop to discourage them from stepping up production. He said it was the plan of government to boost the production of cashew alongside cocoa so as to broaden the agricultural base of the country to minimise the over dependence on cocoa.

He was addressing cashew farmers in the Sekyere West district at a symposium organised by MOFA under its cashew development project at Asante-Mampong on Friday.

It had as its theme, "The benefits and prospects of cashew production".

The symposium was organised against the background that the farmers were about to stop the cultivation of the crop in view of the problem of lack of market that had plagued them. Mr Larbi charged cashew farmers to step up production to serve as bait for the government to fix prices for the product, as had been the case with cocoa.

He told them about the benefits they stood to derive from the cultivation of the crop and the availability of markets for their produce.

Mr Larbi urged the public to go into cashew cultivation, saying that, it was a sure way of contributing to the national development and also asked people to consume cashew food products since they were very nutritious.

Miss Eleanor Swatson, Project Manager of the Cashew Project, asked cashew farmers to place premium on the processing of the crop to enable them meet the export standard.

Mr Thomas Edward Atakorah, Sekyere West District Chief Executive, asked farmers to go into cashew cultivation on a sustainable basis, noting that it was environmentally friendly.