Mr Stephen Yeboah, Atwima-Mponua District Chief Executive, has appealed to cocoa farmers to take advantage of the free distribution of inputs by the government to increase crop production levels.

He said they should properly maintain their farms and correctly apply the fertilizers and chemicals to achieve maximum results.

Mr Yeboah told the GNA that the expectation was that they would be inspired by the intervention to redouble their efforts to help achieve the national cocoa production target of one million tons this year.

A total of over 30,000 bags of fertilizers and 8,000 bottles of confidor (a chemical used for fighting the cocoa black pod disease) had been distributed to farmers in the district.

Mr Yeboah said the inputs had brought significant relief to the farmers and expressed optimism that the returns would be appreciable.

Reporters of the nations wire service had visited the area under STAR-Ghana’s sponsored media auditing and tracking of development projects, an initiative launched to put a spotlight on how governments resources were helping to transform the lives of the people, particularly the rural population.

The goal is to aid transparency, promote accountability and good governance. Mr Yeboah said apart from the fertilizers and confidor, there was also a step up effort by the Cocoa Swollen Shoot and Viral Control Unit (CSSVCU) of the COCOBOD to tackle the cocoa swollen shoot disease in the area.

He said the farmers were being assisted with the right chemicals to spray their farms to prevent the cocoa trees from getting infected.