Apam (C/R), July 2, GNA - The Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing (RTIM) programme of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) has embarked on the training of potato farmers on how to use the crop in making yoghurt, a confectionery.

Mr Frederick Oteng-Mensah, Zonal Coordinator of RTIM who announced this at a stakeholder' forum at Apam in the Central Region recently, said the initiative was to add value to the potato to enable the producer to maximise profit.

The forum was organised by the Gomoa District Directorate of MOFA to educate root and tuber farmers, marketers and transporters on quality management systems.

Mr Oteng-Mensah briefed the participants on how the liquid extracted from cassava dough could be used as a weedicide. He informed them about the high demand of gari and starch on the world market but cautioned that these items could only be accepted for export only if they were produced under very hygienic conditions. The RTIM Zonal Coordinator said the Ministry was making efforts to link all Metropolitan, Municipal and District areas in the country to the export and marketing sources, and advised farmers to attach importance to the quality management system to make their products acceptable on the world market.

He urged farmers to access the Micro Enterprise Fund established to help small and medium scale enterprises to develop. Mrs Evelyn Opare, Director of Agriculture in charge of Gomoa East and West Districts, called on Ghanaians to change their mindset about accessing loans, saying that some people did not use the loans to generate income to help in the repayment.

The MOFA Director cautioned farmers against accessing loans for funerals and weddings. She educated the participants on how to make the cassava dough they use for gari production more acceptable for export. 02 July 10