Bolgatanga, March 29, GNA - Dry season tomato farmers in the Tono, Vea and Pwalugu irrigation areas of the Upper East Region have urgently appealed to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to assist them to get better prices for their produce.

According to them, market queens from Accra, who incidentally are their major customers, have taken advantage of the peak harvest to lower the price of a crate of tomatoes from 120,000 cedis to a rock-bottom price of 40,000 cedis within a week.

Mr Odame-Adufu, a tomato farmer, who made the appeal on behalf of his colleagues in Bolgatanga on Wednesday, said if immediate measures are not taken by government to address the perennial problem of tomato glut in the Region, the country's laudable agricultural policies would be defeated.

He said in view of the high cost of agro-chemicals, fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, as well as the high cost of land preparation, most farmers may go berserk if government does not intervene to stabilise the price of tomatoes.

Independent information gathered in Navrongo and Bolgatanga by the Ghana News Agency indicates that the market queens, who operate in the form of cartels, are opposed to significant increases in the farm gate price of a crate of tomatoes in order to create shortages in Accra to maximise profits.

Mr Odame-Adufu suggested to the government to speed up with the divestiture programme of the Pwalugu Tomato Factory, which would absorb tomatoes produced in the Region, especially during the dry season.

He also called on the authorities to take a critical look at the marketing of agricultural products in general by providing cold stores and other storage facilities that can be rented by farmers.

"The Youth in Agriculture Programme and other agricultural policies designed to boost local food and cash crop production will not achieve the desired results if the marketing and storage side of what is produced is not tackled," he said. It would be recalled that last year's National Farmers Day was held in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional capital, with the main aim of encouraging Ghanaian farmers to boost local agriculture.