Cassava farmers have been urged to engage the services of agricultural extension officers to support them with technical-know-how in cultivating the crop.

A senior agric officer in charge of extension in the West Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region, Owiredu-Gyemera Kwaku, revealed on the Ghanaian Farmer TV show that unlike before, cassava has now become a cash crop which has a lot of economic gains adding that the municipality has tailored programs to help farmers meet the demand.

“We are using technology with the limited number we have(extension officers) through communication. When somebody is going into agriculture, he should make use of the extension officers to get the technical advice,” he remarked.

Mr. Owiredu-Gyemera told the Host and Producer of The Ghanaian Farmer TV Show, Enyonam that as part of efforts to increase production, his outfit supplies local farmers with the cassava seedlings.

The high starch in cassava root is an important characteristic that makes the crop a potential industrial cash crop.

“Cassava farmers benefit from government programs and interventions. What we are doing is that it’s difficult for the cassava farmers to get the right planting materials, so our department goes into the multiplication of the cassava planting materials for the farmers; we cultivate large acres of cassava and we cut the sticks and distribute to the farmers,” he added.

The episode 7 of season 2 Ghanaian Farmer TV Show on Joy Prime TV features cassava farmers from Ekoso in the Asamankese District of the Eastern Region.

Ghana is among the top five cassava producers in Africa with an annual average production of sixteen million metric tons. With over 70 per cent of farmers engage in cassava production, the sector contributes to about 22 per cent of Agricultural GDP in the country.