Accra, July 2, GNA - With effect from Friday July 4, Government would subsidize the prices of the various brands of fertilizer by 40-50 per cent throughout the country. The prices of the popularly used fertilizer such as Urea would be sold at 26 Ghana cedis, Sulphate of Ammonia at 18 Ghana cedis, NPK 15. 15. 15 and NPK 23. 10. 05 would be sold at 26 and 24 Ghana cedis respectively.

Briefing the press on Wednesday on Government's subsidy on fertilizer Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, said this intervention by the Government was to help cushion the increasing cost of foodstuff in the country.

This system, he said, would be implemented under the supervision of the District Directors of Agriculture, Chiefs Executives of the various Districts and Municipalities and Agricultural Extension Officers. He said farmers would be issued with coupons by Extension Officers which they would be required to produce before any sales would be made to them by the fertilizer dealers.

"All coupons received from the sale of fertilizer by dealers shall be forwarded to the fertilizer companies for submission to government for payment of the subsidy component of the fertilizer price," he added. He urged all farmers to report any act of corruption by the Agricultural Extension Officers to either the District or Regional Directors of Agriculture for the appropriate action to be taken. Agriculture, Mr. Debrah noted, remained a strong option for achieving the nation's growth and poverty reduction objectives and the Millennium Development Goal.

The Minister said overcoming poverty and enhancing food security would require a sharp productivity increase in smallholder farming combined with more effective support to the millions coping as subsistence farmers who were mainly village dwellers. He mentioned the substitution of cassava flour for wheat flour in bread and pastry products, supporting large scale cultivation of rice in northern Ghana and rehabilitation of dams damaged in northern Ghana by the 2007 floods as measures to improve agriculture. 2 July 08