Damongo, (N/R), June 13, GNA - Government has abolished the coupon system used in the purchase of fertilizer by farmers on account of its hi gh overhead and administrative costs.

Other reasons cited include the diversion of the coupons from the intended target beneficiaries as well as the large amount of time spent b y officials of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture policing the distributi on system.

Government's new policy on the fertilizer program for the year 2010 is therefore among other things to absorb the port handling charges, loading

and transport costs as well as agents' commission and margins to the fertilizer companies. This is to arrive at prices that are affordable to the small-scale farmers. Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture announced the new policy at the launching of the Youth in Agric Block Farm Programme (YIABF P) in Damongo in the West Gonja District on Saturday.

He said government would also adopt an open market sales policy that

ensured that each type of fertilizer was sold at the same price across th e country by the fertilizer companies. Government, he said, would also open up the scheme such that all categories of farmers both small, medium and large scale have equal acces s to fertilizers at uniform prices agreed upon with the fertilizer companie s to guarantee both productivity and output in increases.

Mr Ahwoi said government's fertilizer subsidy programme for the 2010

farming season was 100,000 metric tons at the cost of GH¢32 million, ad ding that this meant that the subsidy to be paid by government at an average r ate of GH¢16 per bag of 50 kilograms down from GH¢26 per bag during the 2 009 farming season.

He said the approved selling prices for all major type of fertilizer s would now therefore be as follows: NPK approved selling price for a bag o f 50 kilograms would be GH¢27.00, with government subsidy at 38.6 per cen t, while urea and sulphate of amonia would be GH¢25 and GH¢18 with gover nment subsidy of 36.6 per cent and 48.5 per cent respectively.

The Agriculture Minister said the operational modalities for the sal e of the fertilizers would ensure that a waybill receipt system would be employed in the distribution and sale while participating fertilizer companies would be allocated quotas of various fertilizers for the farmer s. He said the companies would import, clear the fertilizers from the ports, pay all charges and deliver allocated quantities of the various ty pes of fertilizers to the designated regions and districts for sale to farmer s by their registered sales agents. He said the recommended subsidy per 50 kilograms would be paid after

sales, presentation and reconciliation of the relevant waybills by the companies and authenticated by the Regional and District Directors of agriculture. Mr Ahwoi urged farmers in their own interest to report any dealer selling fertilizer above the announced prices to MOFA officials and appea led to the security agencies to be on the alert and arrest and prosecute any person found smuggling fertilizer across the country's borders.