Accra, April 20, GNA- Government is to set up a fertilizer manufacturing firm as part of a re-engineering of the agriculture sector, with the long-term goal of saving one billion cedis expended annually on importing six food items, Vice President John Dramani Mahama announced on Monday.

According Vice President Mahama, one billion cedis is presently used in importing rice, sugar, corn, poultry products, tomato puree and sea foods, a situation, he said, would be reversed through a restructuring of the agriculture industry.

The reorganization, he said, is to make Ghana "a net exporter of agricultural products" in the foreseeable future. Interacting with the executives of the National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association (NFFAWAG) at the Castle on Monday, Vice President said government would take advantage of its oil industry to diversify the agriculture sector. One of the by-products of oil industry is chemical manure or fertilizers, which have proven to be useful in sustaining crop yield, especially for farmers engaged in all year farming, a key factor in bringing about food security. The establishment of the fertilizer firm, the Vice President explained, would augment efforts in ensuring a sustainable agriculture industry, which would be central in boosting farmer incomes and eliminating poverty.

The Vice President acknowledged farmers as the "moving force of the country" and said government was open to an all-year consultation with them to brainstorm on all issues affecting their work. He assured them of President J.E.A. Mills' commitment to make agriculture his topmost priority, through a number of initiatives that would make it easier to access funds for agriculture investment, and a youth in agriculture policy to attract ingenious youth into the sector. Explaining, he said an export and agriculture investment fund would be launched to make it easier for people to venture into modernized commercial farming.

He said ready markets would be created for farmers to ensure that those who invest in the sector do not run at a lost while protective measures would be put in place to save fishing from its current woes. For instance, the School Feeding Programme would be restructured to ensure that locally produced staples are used in the diet of the children.

Similarly, he said, government was working to deal with the havoc being wrecked on indigenous fishing industry by foreign pair trawlers, even as he warned their Ghanaian collaborators not to support such illegal acts. Equally, he said both the shea and tomato industry respectively are to be revamped as both would play key roles in government's effort to reduce poverty among women, especially in the three northern regions through emphasis on increased yield and processing for exports. Mr Philip Abayori, President of NFFWAG, listed a number of constraints bedeviling the agriculture sector including limited credit, rising cost of inputs and low density of agric extension officers to assist farmers. He said currently, 5000 farmers are entitled to only one extension officer, a situation, he said, must be urgently address as these officers help diffuse scientific findings that are critical in raising farm yields. He also asked the government to take a second look as the fertilizer subsidy policy as it was benefiting the distributing companies at the expense of framers.