Accra, Nov. 30, GNA - The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) on Thursday lauded farmers and fishermen and called on the government to give subsidies to them to produce more and also compete favourably with their counterparts in the world.

"The Union also sees it as a matter of concern the flooding of the domestic market with imported rice, as this is inimical to the growth and sustainability of the domestic rice industry," it said in statement issued in Accra.

NUGS therefore, called on the government to do more to protect the local rice farmers and industry from total collapse.

"To the Union, the best way the country can make giant strides towards achieving a middle income status is to strengthen the agro-processing sector of the economy to add more value to produce of the country instead of the arge raw state in which the country's materials are exported." NUGS said the government should also make policies that would make agriculture more attractive to the youth as well as revive the Youth in Agriculture Programme of the NDC government to encourage more youth into farming.

This year's Farmers' Day rally comes off on Friday in the Ashanti Region.