The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Fisheries, Mr Nii Amasah Namoale, has urged farmers to adopt and apply the principles and methods of modern farming to boost production. He stressed the need for farmers to embrace record keeping and other techniques to monitor and evaluate the progress of their activities. Mr Namoale was speaking at a two-day agricultural conference and exhibition on: "Focus on Agriculture: Market-Driven Agriculture for Accelerated Rural Economic Development." It was organized by African Connections Ghana Limited (ACGL), a development consulting firm with specialization in Rural Economic Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and funded by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited and ProCredit Bank. The conference was attended by 119 participants comprising leaders of farmers associations, district chief executives and personnel from the agricultural inputs and agro-food processing companies. It was on the theme: "Practical ways of Cultivating Crops to Ensure Quality Improvement and Smallholder Farmers' Income" It was aimed at exploring avenues for access to loans/finance to support farmer-based organizations, engage leaders of farmer-based associations in capacity building workshops to improve their effectiveness, bring local authorities, private sector companies, financial institutions and development partners together to strategize on effective ways to boost agriculture and explore innovative techniques to improve profits from farming. Mr Namoale, who is also the Member of Parliament for La Dadekotopon said MoFA, has always been a strong advocate of successful farming as evident in successive government policies and agricultural development programmes. He added that marginalized farmers could reap the real benefits of such programmes if they do not view them as mere humanitarian gestures, but as a way of boosting their real income. Source: GNA