Saltpond (C/R), Dec. 17, GNA - Participants at a workshop at Saltpond have called for a research into local herbs for the production of veterinary drugs to alleviate scarcity and the high cost. The participants said scarcity and the prohibitive cost of veterinary drugs were discouraging farmers from going into poultry and animal husbandry.

The workshop, organised by the Central Regional Research Extension Linkage Committee and sponsored jointly by the Mfantseman District Assembly and the District Directorate of Agriculture was to identify problems facing farmers and fishermen and find solution and where necessary link them up with research institutions.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) formed the Research Extension Linkage Committee in collaboration with the universities to find solutions to problems of farming and fishing.

The committee is also to help build the capacity of stakeholders in farming and fishing through training programmes.

Farmers, farmer-based organisations, MOFA staff agro-business men and women, researchers, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and bankers attended the workshop.

Some of the problems identified included soil fertility and salinity, marketing of products, the lack of good planting materials, post harvest losses, diseases, storage, unavailability of credit facilities, high cost inputs and the use of unapproved methods of farming and fishing.

Mr. K.S. Aidoo of the University of Cape Coast and a member of the committee appealed to farmers to conserve habitats for pollinators to enhance their movements to pollinate vegetables and fruits. Mr. Aidoo who is also a beekeeper, admonished farmers not to kill bees and other insects, which help in facilitating pollination. Dr. Prempeh Fiscian also of the University of Cape Coast and the leader of the committee said there would be no food security without addressing the problems of farmers.

He said the time had come to help farmers with scientific research solutions to their problems to enable them to produce more to feed the nation and for export.

Mrs Felicia Ansah-Amprofi, Mfantseman District Director of Agriculture assured farmers that research solutions to their problems would not end in the shelves but would reach them for use to boost production.

Mrs. Ansah-Amprofi commended the participants for doing a god job.