Government has restored levies and duties which were removed on the importation of rice and other poultry products in May 2008 ostensibly to cushion Ghanaians on the impact of global food crisis. The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Kwabena Duffuor revealed this during his presentation of the “2010 Budget Statement” on the Floor of Parliament on Wednesday. According to him, the removal of the levies “opened up the flood gate for dumping of foreign food items in the country,” which made domestic production of fish, chicken and rice largely uncompetitive. The levies which will be re-imposed from January 2010 are part of a larger framework by government to modernize the agricultural sector which he said can change the face of Ghana’s development. “Government will also promote large scale public-private commercial farming; provide agriculture machinery and equipment and enhance their distribution; and provide resources to rehabilitate irrigation schemes, particularly Tono and Vea Irrigation Schemes and breached dams,” he pledged. On interventions to the rice and poultry industries, the Minister mentioned among other things, “inadequate machinery and equipment; inadequate chemical and fertilizers; and high cost of production attributable mainly to high interest rates charged by commercial banks” as some of the major challenges facing the industries saying the government will put in place the appropriate interventions to rescue the industry from continued relapse. “Government will also assist poultry farmers to acquire equipment, chicken feed, chemicals, and other inputs to enable them undertake large scale chicken production in the country.” he said On the cocoa industry, Dr Duffuor said government has set itself a target of producing 1,000,000 metric tons of cocoa before in 2012. In line with that “Government has directed that bonuses totalling GH¢50 million for the 2008/2009 main crop season be paid in two instalments to the farmers: 50% in November 2009 and the remaining 50% in April-May 2010. Government in October also provided seed money of GH¢15 million for the establishment of the Cocoa Farmers Social Security Fund. He took a swipe at the NPP for allowing a cocoa processing initiative- CALF cocoa, which would otherwise have employed hundreds of Ghanaians to “rot”, saying “it is our determination to support this and other such worthy initiatives to take off and contribute to the economic growth of the country. Immediately after the Finance Minister ended his delivery the MP’s brandished placards with different inscriptions to either support or impugn the government’s financial statement for 2010. The minority wielded placards such as “Team B Budget”, “Eeeko Nyaa Budget” whilst those in the majority in unison showed “Budget of Growth of Stability” amidst songs of praise for the government. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana