Accra, July 27, GNA-The national production of plantain had increased from 1.1 metric tonnes to 3.6 million metric tonnes per annum between 1992 and 2005, an increase of about 230 per cent, Mr Clement Eledi said on Friday.

He said since the inception of the national agricultural research programme, the annual production had increased and attributed this to the dynamic work of Ghanaian science researchers.

Speaking at a day's validation workshop on "Using the Agricultural Science Technology and Innovation (ASTI) System to Improve Production, Processing and Marketing of Plantain in Ghana", the deputy Minister said Ghana had since 2001 remained the largest producer of plantain in West and Central Africa with the current per capita consumption standing at 101.8 kg per head.

He said plantain contributed about 13.1 per cent of the agricultural Gross Domestic product and 90 per cent was consumed locally and ranked high in food preference in Ghana.

The study was to bring to bear effective linkages and commitment of various actors to improve the productivity and marketing of an agricultural industry. It was conducted selected districts in Central, Western, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions Mr Eledi noted that the production of plantain provided substantial employment for women and the youth in most plantain growing rural communities in the Eastern, Volta, Ashanti, Western, Brong Ahafo and Central regions.

He said it was unfortunate that only a small percentage of the total production was exported to Europe, United Kingdom, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger though the demand was high in these markets and attributed this to the fact that apart from those consumed locally, quite a number of the plantain got rotten on the farm gate or markets at the production centres.

"If there were strong linkages among stakeholders and the value chain was intact, this situation would not have occurred", he added. The deputy Minister noted that there was the need for all sectors of the economy to be scientifically and technologically innovative to ensure that all stakeholders knew and understood the roles expected to play to ensure national outcomes.

He called for the need for ASTI to b uild strong local capacity to understand the strengths and weakness of local science, technology and innovation system in the plantain sub-sector of the agricultural sector. "It should also provide one set of inputs into future policies governing agriculture and science, technology and innovation and demonstrate to all stakeholders the need to focus science and technology developments on the agricultural sector and more specifically as they relate to agricultural trade, competitiveness and food security". Mr. Eledi called on stakeholders to strategise, forge stronger linkages and understanding to ensure that the plantain industry grew and contributed to achieving the targets of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Dr. Irene Egyir, a researcher and a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon who presented the findings of the study said agricultural policies had not adequately maintained the country's competitive position in the world markets for a number of agricultural commodities, which included plantain.

Plantain, the study revealed had also not been targeted adequately and had no specific budgets to the sector as well as the sector not being clearly demarcated.

"The results should also provide information on the nature of the system as well as alternative approaches that might be considered, with regard to complementary policies, programmes and support organisations that could contribute to strengthening the ASTI with regard to the plantain sub-sector".

She said the plantain actors concentrated at the meso-macro rather than at the micro level whilst the demand actors concentrated at the district level, the enterprise operations occur mainly at the community level, diffusion at the sub district level, research and training at the national level and infrastructure development was concentrated at the district level.

The study identified major constraints such as low farm gate price, high tax rates from district assembly, high cost of transport, seasonal market price instability, irregular visit by researchers, breaches of informal contracts between traders and farmers, poor handling of produce, lack of processing machines and lack of product standardisation.

The study recommended innovations in the areas of policy, capacity building, of actors, business finance, strengthening of horizontal and vertical linkages as well as market infrastructure. Professor Emmanuel Owusu-Bennoah, Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) who chaired, called for the need to bridge the gap between the knowledge generation and diffusion of the knowledge.

He said researchers generated knowledge "and these knowledge does not get to the people on the ground and it is necessary to bring the key players together to form a platform and modernise agriculture". Prof.Owusu-Bennoah noted that plantain was a staple crop of considerable importance so far as food security was concerned and needed strong innovation through continuous learning and interactions among different enterprises, organisations and other related sectors. He urged stakeholders to tap on innovative ideas and pathways, associations and strong linkages that could lead to growth for the nation. 27 July 07