Have, Jun 15, GNA - "Trees for the Future" an International Ecology Protection Association, has started a programme to raise agricultural production in the Volta Region through organic farming rather than the use of fertilizers.

As part of the project, the Association in collaboration with the Environmental Development Youth Movement (EDYM) has organized Farmer Based Organizations for training across the region. Mr Lorvans Owusu Takyi, Country Coordinator- Ghana, Trees for the Future, told a meeting of some farmers at EDYM Village near Have in the Hohoe District on Monday that, organic based farming would bring better returns to them.

He said under that system, farmers would intersperse crops with trees whose decomposing leaves provide the vital organic matters such as nitrogen needed for soil sustenance.

He listed Moringa, Lucina and Cassia, as some of the tree species that were being used under the scheme. Mr Takyi said the organic method made more business sense as farmers would spend less money but reap increased yields with time, as opposed to the inorganic methods, which reduce land fertility progressively. He said by the end of this year, two million trees would be planted across the country under the programme, which began in 2009. Mr Paul Kpai, Executive Director of EDYM, said the organization had acquired machines to prepare compost from the wastes of the trees. He announced that EDYM would organize a conclave at the EDYM village on July 22, this year, at which government representatives including the Regional Minister and financial institutions, would be invited to tell farmers opportunities opened to them under the current national agricultural policies.

Catherine Bukowski International Coordinator of "Trees for the Future", who is visiting Ghana, said the scheme was an integrated method of raising incomes and living standards in the rural farming communities. He said leaves of those nitrogen fixing trees were also good fodder for domestic animals, have medicinal value and as fuel wood with time. Mr Johnson Worlanyo Kuma, a Manager of the Forestry Commission in Ho, recommended alley farming under which these species of trees would be planted in alleys alongside crops.

He said there was an on-going programme, under which the Forestry Commission would buy trees nursed by individual farmers. Mr Lord Titus Amedume, Project Coordinator, said the project was using workshops and fields visits to get the message across. He mentioned the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, (MOFA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Forestry Commission, as the main partners. Mr Amedume said judging by the numbers congregating to benefit from the scheme, the project was poised to make a big impact on agricultural production in the region with time. 15 Jun 10