The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is exploring the means to re-introduce the automatic placement of graduates from agricultural training schools to improve the current ratio of one Agricultural Extension Officer to 1,500 farmers.

Mr Samuel Oteng, Deputy Director at MOFA, announced this at the University of Ghana, Legon on Wednesday when contributing to a symposium on: "Food Security and Poverty Reduction" as part of the 55th Annual New Year School organised by the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) of the University.

The theme for the School is: "A Decade of Constitutional Rule in Ghana: Critical Issues Facing The Nation."

In an answer to a question on the removal of subsidies on agricultural inputs, Mr Oteng said farmers' concerns were being addressed through "indirect subsidies," adding that the subsidies were removed because of smuggling.

Mr Oteng said the country produced about one million tonnes of maize annually and said it was the Government's policy to keep 10,000 tonnes as buffer stock.

He said MOFA was making efforts to increase yearly agricultural production from the current four and a half per cent to eight per cent by 2010.

Mrs Ama Serwaa Dapaah, Executive Director of the Social Investment Fund, called for the elimination of geographical, political, gender and other disparities that hindered poverty reduction efforts.

The Reverend Dr. Samuel Asuming-Brempomng of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University, who chaired the symposium, called for urgent solutions to the problems hindering agricultural production. He also urged farmers to collaborate with agro-processing industries to add value to their produce and to reduce post-harvest losses.