Greenhouse village technology, the way to go
Recently, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo inaugurated the second greenhouse village in the country in Akomadan in the Ashanti Region and projected that the country could reap earnings of about $1 billion from vegetable exports by the next six to seven years.
The President's projection was informed by the statistics that the annual output and corresponding value for tomatoes, sweet pepper and cucumber at Dawhenya in the Greater Accra Region, Akomadan in the Ashanti Region and Bawjiase in the Central Region was estimated at a market value of over GH¢2.49 million a year.
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It was also based on estimates that an 80-hectare greenhouse village at the Dawhenya Irrigation Scheme to grow horticultural crops could yield a total market value of GHc150.2 million per annum.
These figures definitely sound good and satisfactory. This is because, as a country, we are looking forward to seeing the horticultural sector as a major foreign income earner that will soon rub shoulders with the big “guys” such as gold, cocoa and petroleum, the only commodities in the country that are in the billion brackets.
Aside from vegetables becoming foreign income earners, the prospect of replacing imported vegetables with locally produced vegetables must be a cause for joy. This means that the local market will take over the supply of vegetables to hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, the implication being that there will be more money in the pockets of vegetable farmers in the value chain.
Surely, the greenhouse village technology is the way to go to stem the insatiable importation and consumption of vegetables when we have every opportunity and the capacity to produce enough for the local market and even for export.
We at the Daily Graphic believe that this is doable, for which reason we would like to encourage the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to continue to push for the establishment of these greenhouse villages throughout the country for the realisation of the President's dream of seeing the horticultural sector become a major player in raking in foreign exchange for the country.
We believe that Ghana is in a better position to capture the European vegetable market, instead of allowing East African countries to travel all the way to take over the European market when we are just six hours away from that market.
This is one of the surest ways of realising the President's Ghana Beyond Aid agenda, which is doable even before the seven years that he projected.
We wish to use the opportunity to congratulate the Israeli company, AGRITOP Ghana Ltd, the brains behind the greenhouse village technology in the country, on not only offering technology transfer but also giving our young graduates the opportunity to gain 11-month hands-on experience from farmers in Israel.
We say ‘’ayekoo’’ to the government and the people of Israel for being great partners to Ghana and urge those graduates who get the opportunity to go to Israel to do us the honour of lifting the flag of Ghana high.
The Daily Graphic is concerned that some Ghanaians abuse similar opportunities, thereby truncating such partnerships. We, therefore, urge the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in collaboration with the Israeli government, to put in stringent measures to prevent anybody from abusing the system.