Adieyie (W/R), July 9, GNA - Two hundred and forty farmers who received various forms of support from Anglogold Ashanti Iduapriem Limited (AAIL) to venture into food crop production, are expected to harvest 150 metric tones of maize this year.

The beneficiary farmers received seedlings, seeds, fertilizer, weedicides, pesticides, machetes, Wellington boots, knapsack spraying machines, and technical assistance.

Mr Billy Wawasha, Managing Director of AAIL, said the focus of the "hand in hand" project by the company is to make food crops available to catchment communities in which the mine operates.

He said to further boost the efforts of the farmers, 110 new farmers have been selected to cultivate two acres of oil palm with a total of 24,000 dollars devoted to the project.

Mr Wawasha added that the farmers will also be supplied with fertilizers, Wellington boots and technical assistance, from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He said though the project targets maize, vegetables, fish farming and oil palm for adults, pupils of Adieyie and Teberebie basic schools have also been assisted to cultivate three acres of maize to boost the study of agriculture in schools.

Mr Wawasha said the company was sponsoring 73 students in secondary, tertiary, apprenticeship, and a total of 15,000 Ghana cedis have been devoted for the human resource development programme of the company.

Mr Ernest Amoateng, Assemblyman for Adieyie, expressed the appreciation of the beneficiary communities.

Mr Daniel Essel, Municipal Director of Agriculture appealed to the management of Anglogold Iduapriem to include rice cultivation in their community projects since there were several valleys lying fallow that could be converted into rice farms to feed the community and Tarkwa as a whole.

Mr Christina Kobinah, Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive, appealed to the mining company to make environmental sanitation their major concern and also to live in peace with its catchment communities.