Sogakope (V/R), Aug 5, GNA - Major Courage Quashigah, the Minister of Food of Agriculture on Monday stressed the need for a complete modernisation of the agricultural practices and rural development as pre-requisites of rapid development of the economy within the next eight years.

He said that required a complete transformation of present crude and rudimentary methods of production, processing, storage, processing, transportation, and marketing of agricultural produce, as well as constant information flow between producers, and consumers on latest and relevant information from the production and consumption stages. Major Quashigah made the remark in Sogakope when he opened a four-day Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) inter-ministerial workshop to prepare a strategic plan of work for the agricultural sector for next year.

He said agriculture must move away from relying solely on rainfall to irrigation agriculture and added that there is also the need to embark on demand driven research and build the capacity of operators in the agricultural sector and make credit more accessible to them. Major Quashigah said agriculture must be seen as a business activity and asked the Ministry of Trade and Industry to develop an effective internal trade policy to facilitate the flow of agricultural produce within the regions and the districts, in addition to the import and export trade policy.

He stated that on the average, each Ghanaian eats only 12 eggs in a year against the universal requirement of 1,000 in a year. The consumption of meat was also rather ridiculous, he said, and added that the Ministry was trying to compose the dietary content of the foods consumed in the country.

Major Quashigah, announced efforts to revamp the livestock sector, and said the Ministry is trying to revamp the Aveyime Cattle Ranch, and had modernised the Amrahia Cattle Centre for the milking of cows on more frequent basis for dairy products.

The cattle processing places would be established at Pong, he said, adding that there is a plan to establish one at Adidome. The Chief Director of the MOFA, Mr. Owusu Baah said Ghanaians have preference to foreign agricultural products to local ones and urged hotels and restaurants, to include, on a large scale, Ghanaian dishes in their menus.

Ms. Adelaide Siribuor, Deputy Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate, said under the Agriculture Sub-Services Investment Programme (AGSSIP) the Ministry was producing seeds to support the President's Special Initiatives on oil palm and also rehabilitating nine irrigation projects.

Apart from the Ministries, participants to workshop were from the banks, and research institutions.