The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) has held a field day and visit for farmers at Nabuli in the Gushegu Municipality of the Northern Region to showcase to them the integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technologies.

The event was for maize farmers to enhance maize yields through the adoption of ISFM.

During the field day, farmers were introduced to climate-smart maize variety “Bihilifa” and various mineral fertilizer combinations, which aimed to improve their understanding of nutrient management and decision-making for optimizing crop production.

The different mineral fertilizer recommendations tested on improved maize variety included 250 kg/ha ACTYVA + 2.5 L/ha CLB + 250 kg/ha ACTYVA, 250 kg/ha ACTYVA + 2.5 L/ha CLB + 125 kg/ha SULFAN, NPK 90-60-60 + 1.4ZN kg/ha, (iv) NPK 100-40-40 kg/ha, no inputs (control), and farmers’ practice.

The ISFM initiative extended to other crops such as soybean, groundnut, cowpea, and rice, and testing different fertilizer combinations for overall productivity.

The project is part of a broader effort titled, “Advancing Agriculture through Upscaling of Innovative Soil Health Technologies in Ghana,” funded by AGRA PIATA consortium and reaching out to numerous smallholder farmers across 17 districts in the northern part of the country: North East, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of three partners namely CSIR-SARI, CSIR-Soil Research Institute in Kumasi, and AMYA Agro Plus at Wenchi in the Bono Region, and in partnership with the District Departments of Agriculture in the various implementing zones.

It seeks to create at least 200 jobs and ultimately reach out to an estimated 50,000 smallholder farmers with each cultivating an average of 12 acres of farmland for crops such as cowpea, maize, rice soybean and groundnut.

It is also expected to train 200 extension agents including Village-Based Agriculture Advisors, 50 Scientists, 100 technicians trained on ISFM and good agricultural practices. 

During the field day, Dr Edwin Akley, Project Manager/Coordinator for CSIR-SARI, lamented about the decline in crop yields over the years, which was affecting food security and farmers’ incomes.

He said, “This project is being implemented to help boost crops production, increase food and nutrition security.”

He said the overall initiative of the field day was not only to showcase innovative agricultural techniques but also to emphasise the importance of sustainable agricultural practices in addressing challenges such as declining crop yields and soil health as well as other environmental issues.

Dr Akley explained that the project was also to empower young people in the agricultural sector and to enable them embrace farming as a lucrative business venture to address unemployment in communities.

Mr John Laadun, Assembly Member for Nabuli Electoral Area commended CSIR-SARI for the initiative expressing need to expose farmers in the area to modern farming practices and better management techniques such as post-harvest handling of crops to enhance productivity and food security.

Madam Fuseina Alhassan, a resident of Nabuli, who participated in the field day in the community, expressed the readiness of farmers in the area to embrace the ISFM technologies saying they would help them to increase their yields.

Overall, the community feedback highlighted a strong desire among farmers to adopt the ISFM technologies for better productivity and food security.