Aveyime (V/R), Feb. 2, GNA - The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) on Wednesday said it had not abandoned the Quality Grain Project as was being speculated.

Mr Daniel Nyarko Ohemeng, Deputy Chief Executive of Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (IDA), made this known at Aveyime when Journalists visited the site.

He explained that the Project was in two parts - the farming and the processing - and now had only the processing unit operating. "The farming has not taken place because the irrigation systems have not been laid."

He said until 2001 all the equipment needed for the farm were under the mercy of the weather.

"The Ministry spent 400 million cedis to provide a shed for these equipment."

There are 54 engines, six sprayers, harrows, pumps, articulated trucks, stand-by generators, bulldozers, slashing machines, combined harvesters and silos all of which had been oiled, greased and put under a protective shed, he said.

He said the processing unit now processes 600 to 1,000 bags of rice a day adding that the Project had improved the quality of local rice. He said the Ministry had put in place a team to solicit for funds for land development so that the farming would commence.

"The Government wants this Project to be used for growing and milling of local rice in Ghana and not for milling alone," he said.