Koforidua, Nov. 23, GNA - The government will soon introduce measures to turn the country's agriculture from subsistent farming to light manufacturing and ultimately to high technological production level.

This was contained in an address read on behalf of President John Atta Mills at a durbar to climax the celebration of Akwantukese Festival of the chiefs and people of New Juaben Traditional Area at Koforidua on Saturday.. The festival, which marks the 131st anniversary of the settlement of the people of New Juaben in their current geographical area, is being observe= d under the theme "Effective partnership between the state and traditional authorities for sustainable development".

President Mills said the process of transforming agriculture would be costly and arduous but expressed the hope that with determination, persistent commitment effective cooperation and collaboration between stakeholders "we certainly would get there".

He complained about bad behaviour that contribute to global warming an= d appealed to traditional authorities, opinion leaders, social and communit= y organizations and religious bodies to join hands with the District, Municipal and Metropolitan assemblies to help address environmental issue= s that contributed to global warming.

The Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Oti Boateng,=

assured the government of the commitment of the traditional council to th= e government's agricultural policies and announced that to compliment the efforts of government the Traditional Council had decided to liberalize t= he traditional land acquisition formalities. He called on the government to introduce incentive packages to motivat= e the youth to engage in sustainable agriculture.

Daasebre Oti Boateng expressed his appreciation for the recent increas= e in the producer price of cocoa and appealed for more incentives to be giv= en to staple food items like maize and cassava to energize the sector. He announced the establishment of the Daasebre Scholarship Scheme to provide financial support for brilliant but needy residents of the traditional area and said currently two students in tertiary institutions=

were benefiting from the scheme. Daasebre Oti Boateng appealed to the President to consider the=

elevation of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly to Metropolitan status.