By Bernice Agyekwena | Communications Manager
Self-Help International’s Agriculture and Entrepreneurship Development (AED) Program showcased innovations in agriculture to farmers and other shareholders at this year’s District Farmers Day celebration on December 2nd at Kyereyasi in the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipal in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
The AED Program replicates scientific research undertaken by other research stations to demonstrate its efficacy to farmers and also determine the best practices necessary for the adoption and successful outcome of the research in Ghana’s agricultural environment.
These innovations provide farmers with new technologies and information about soils, plants, poultry and rabbits among others to determine the optimum conditions that support high crop yields and the successful rearing of poultry and rabbits based on practical experimentation and implementation at the SHI training center.
The items exhibited for Farmers Day included a demonstration of cultivating aubergine (eggplant) and cabbage seedlings nursed in soilless medium to educate people on how to use soilless medium to nurse and raise plants to reduce the incidence of diseases and pests.
Also on display was a sack of rice husk which is common in the Ghanaian environment and can be used for producing biochar. Biochar is created through the controlled burning of the rice husk under low oxygen, and can also be turned into biochar compost, which as the name suggests, is biochar that has been enriched with compost.
Strawberries and tomatoes planted in used containers were also showcased in a bid to demonstrate how used containers can be used to nurse and cultivate plants.
In order to promote the rearing of rabbits, a rabbit cage fabricated with galvanized metal mesh which is both durable and hygienic was put on show to help people interested in rearing rabbits to know how best to house them.
An orange plant cloned through air layering which is a method of propagating trees and shrubs from stems still attached to the parent plant was also exhibited. The advantages of using this method of propagation is that the clones produce fruits that are identical to the parent plant and also fruit at a faster rate than plants propagated through seed.
Some of the people who visited the SHI stand left with young seedlings to plant on their own farms and gardens.
Thus, participating in this year's Farmer’s Day celebration did not only offer SHI a chance to educate people on new ways of cultivating plants and rearing poultry and rabbits but also provided an opportunity for people to test and benefit from these innovations by utilizing improved seedlings on their farms.
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