The government would from this year empower departments and agencies to research and come out with workable plans that would increase cotton production in the country, Clement Eledi, the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture has said. He said the government had tasked Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) to introduce with high quality seeds that would help farmers to increase their yield. Mr. Eledi was answering a question on what the government was doing to improve on cotton production in the Upper West Region at a People's Assembly organized at Gwollu, the Sissala District capital. He said loans had been given to cotton companies throughout the country and that the government was talking with Burkina Faso to acquire high quality seeds for farmers in the three northern regions for the next farming season. The Upper West Regional Minister, Ambrose Dery said apart from cotton production, the government was also prioritizing sorghum production in the three northern regions as a commercial crop. He said a special variety of the crop -"Kappalla" - which is good for brewing Guinness has been introduced and appealed to farmers to take advantage to go into its production as Guinness Ghana was prepared to buy all their produce. Source: GNA