Akim Oda (E/R), Jan. 1, GNA - The introduction of the Hi-Tech Method= in cocoa production is a testimony of Government's determination to help to improve the cocoa industry, Mr Gilbert Kofi Germain, Executive Director of the Young and the Lonely Foundation Ghana (YLF) has said. Speaking during a meeting with a cross-section of members of the Foundation including some cocoa farmers at Akim Oda in the Eastern Region o= n Saturday, he said, the hi-tech programme had helped to reduce poverty among farmers in most areas.

Mr Germain, whose Foundation is based at Agona Swedru in the Central Region, urged all farmers to embrace the mass spraying exercise in order to increase their yields. He was not happy that some cocoa farmers continued to refuse to allow their farms to be sprayed in spite of the tremendous success others who allowed the spraying had chalked. Mr Germain advised farmers to desist from negative farming practices such as 93shifting cultivation". Similar interaction with Foundation members and farmers had been held in the Central, Western and Ashanti Regions.