The Tain District Assembly has commenced the distribution of about 70,000 improved cashew seedlings to farmers in the district to improve their production.

The free distribution of the seedlings is in line with government Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) initiative aimed at decentralizing the National Tree Crop programme to promote rural economic growth and to also enhance the foreign exchange earning capacity of the country’s economy.

The Assembly under the PERD initiative have been providing improved cashew seedlings to farmers in the district for the past three years to enhance cashew production in the district.

Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the seedlings to the Department of Agriculture for onward distribution to farmers in the area, the District Chief Executive, Madam Charity Akua Foriwaa Dwommoh said the distribution is geared towards increasing cashew production in the area and to also ensure supply of raw materials to support government’s decentralized industrialization derive through the One District, One Factory initiative which the district is a beneficiary of a cashew factory.

The DCE said government attaches seriousness to the agricultural sector, hence his interventions to ensure it gets the needed boast.

She urged the farmers in the area especially the youth to take advantage of the various agricultural interventions and incentives to increase production and improve their livelihood.

In his remarks, Mr. Joseph Yelibora, the District Director of Agriculture thanked the Assembly for the presentation, adding that his office will see to the supervision and monitoring of the seedlings so as to avert failure.

He said the Department will distribute the seedlings to farmers based on the number of seedlings each farmer initially requested.