The Crop Research Institute (CRI) is making efforts to improving agricultural mechanization in the country aimed at restoring the interest of the youth in agriculture.

This, the Institute will do through reduction of the drudgery involved in farming.

Continuous use of rudimentary farm tools has contributed to low agricultural yields, affecting farmers’ income and food security.

Investments of government and businesses into tractors and other equipment to deal with the situation have yielded little results.

Director at Crop Research Institute, Dr. Stella Ennin believes the maximum utilization of the tractors will be realized when further efforts are made to acquire implements to mount to tractors.

“It has become important for us to have planters that will plant our cereals and even root and tuber crops. Now people just broadcast their seeds because labour is scarce and tractors just run over them, this has affected productivity,” she said.

Through the revamping of the engineering section of the institute, the capacity of  CRI staff will be built to ensure t mechanization in crop development and post-harvest level to improve productivity.

The first machinery in the mechanical revolution is the CRI-manual cassava harvester, which aims at eradicating the drudgery involved in harvesting the cassava.

At a farmer training workshop on the improved manual cassava harvester, farmers who tried the tool expressed interest in the machinery for its efficiency and energy saving.

In a bid to make the CRI-manual harvester accessible to farmers, the institute is training artisans in the manufacturing of the manual harvester.

A researcher at CRI, Shadrack Kwadwo Amponsah speaking at a training workshop said plans are in place to extend the exercise to other parts of the country.