Rice farmers in Ghana have embraced new varieties of the crop introduced to them under the partnership of the Korea programme for international agriculture, (KOPIA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, (CSIR). The two working partners took the farmers to rice fields at the Dawhenya irrigation site to assess at first hand, what varieties suit their interests.
The Korean government works through the Korean programme for international agriculture, KOPIA, to transmit agricultural techniques and funding to developing countries. A member of the G20, Korea aims to empower countries, and the operations of KOPIA rêveal the objective of improving agricultural Productivity and food security in fragile economies.
KOPIA’s rice projects have funding to the tune of 30 million US dollars, and it is essentially geared towards research. It also provides other forward linkage interventions such as the provision of rice warehouses, and the training of farmers. Whilst the South Koreans have their own rice breeds in the mix, the other ones are largely products of their partnership with CSIR-Ghana.
For Ghanaian scientific researchers, this is welcome assistance as funding is the critical component of their operational chain. Only 1 per cent of GDP or thereabout is allocated for research by the government, hence the increasing reliance on foreign donors to undertake their tasks to levels that meet advanced situations.
Some of the farmers who spoke to the Ghana Report said, the new rice varieties are boons in the sense that they are aromatic long grains that the market requires. Padded into this is the early maturity of the varieties and tolerance to stress conditions.
The rice farmers also say the unavailability of power tillers and combined harvesters renders their work tedious and limits actual output for the market.
The Country Director of KOPIA, Dr Choong-Hoe Kim, said the Korean rice programme specifically aims to boost local production and reduce rice imports, and the process improves the earnings of local rice farmers called into action.
It is reported that a very small percentage of lands suitable or made suitable for rice farming are on irrigated lands.