The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over 19 power tillers to selected farmers of the Tono Irrigation Scheme in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region.

The facilities, which cost GH¢18, 000 each, are to support the beneficiary farmers who are into rice and vegetable production, to reduce the cost of land preparation, and increase the acreage of land under cultivation, to boost food production.

The power tillers, which come with other accessories including reapers, were given to the farmers in the form of grant, and has been a collaboration between the Feed the Future Ghana Agricultural Transfer Technology (ATT) Project, and J.K.Technologies, dealers in small agricultural equipment.

Under the initiative, the project paid 70 per cent of the cost of the facility, while the beneficiary farmers contributed 30 percent of the cost.

It is envisaged that the facilities would encourage the beneficiary farmers to adapt to the use of agricultural machinery to help boost production.

Addressing the beneficiaries at Tono near Navrongo, the Acting Managing Director of the Irrigation Company of the Upper Region (ICOUR), Mr.Sebastian Bagina, observed that the gesture would ultimately help to solve land preparation problems, which were among the major challenges facing farmers in their bid to increase production.

Mr Bagina said although under the ATT project, farmers at Tono were encouraged to practise the Urea Deep Placement Technology (UDP), which promotes lesser weed infestation, maximization of the utilization of the Urea chemical fertilizer and overall increased crop yield, the farmers still faced the problem of lack of water in the Tono dam in the last season.

He, therefore, entreated the farmers to take good care of the facilities to enable them adopt mechanized farming on sustainable basis.

Mrs Blessing Kemakolam, the Grants Manager for the ATT Project, said one of the most important objectives of the project was to increase production by between 10 and 20 percent among the beneficiary farmers.

"As beneficiaries you can create jobs and increase your income levels as you support other farmers who did not benefit from the facility. Indeed we are happy that we are putting smiles on the faces of farmers in this area," she said.

Mr. Gambhirsinh Chauhan, Managing Director of J.K.Technologies and Enterprise Limited, noted that farming was no longer subsistence, but technological, hence the need for farmers to take advantage of such interventions to grow their farming activities.

He explained that each power tiller was equipped with a 16-horsepower engine that was expected to undergo a lot of pressure without necessarily breaking down every now and then.

Mr. Chauhan intimated that the beneficiaries would be trained, with the necessary spare parts made available to enable farmers to maintain the facilities.

Dr.Bernard My-Issah, Upper East Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, entreated the farmers not to consider themselves as poor, but to treat their farming activities as businesses, to enable them derive maximum benefits.

"We have tried all manner of interventions to boost farming but I must say that because farmers do not treat their activities as a business, those interventions have not impacted positively on their lives but this time around let us be sincere with the donors and be serious with this intervention," Dr.My-Issah further stressed.

Mr. James Adawina, Chairman of the Tono Farmers Association, thanked the donors for the support, and pledged that the farmers would put the facilities to good use.