GEPA begins supply of pineapple suckers to farmers
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has handed over two million pineapple suckers to two farmers at Pokrom, near Aburi in the Eastern Region under the second phase of its Pineapple Supply Base Expansion programme.
The ceremonial handover to two of the country’s major pineapple exporters, Riverside Farms and Ohu Farms, was performed by the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the GEPA, Ms Afua Asabea Asare, last Friday.
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Many more farmers are to benefit from 13.3 million suckers being made available for distribution by GEPA, this year, to promote the cultivation and exportation of pineapples to enhance the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
Presentation
Ms Asare challenged the farmers to work harder to make the second phase of the Pineapple Supply Base Expansion programme even more successful.
She explained that the project was aimed at supporting farmers to enable the country to meet the high demand in pineapple supply for both the local and international market.
Ms Asare stated that the farmers would be supported and monitored to ensure that they produced healthy fruits.
Mr Adomako, in his welcome address, stated that GEPA placed high premium on pineapple production due to its contribution to non-traditional export (NTE) growth.
Currently, pineapple export, according to him, was second to banana with respect to export revenue generation.
“Fresh pineapple exports, for instance, amounted to UDS 18.1 million in 2017.
GEPA supplied 6,890,000 pineapple suckers to outgrowers and exporters during the first phase of the project in 2017 out of which 5,290,000 of the suckers were planted in the Eastern Region”, he stated.
More demand
The Project Coordinator of the Pineapple Supply Base Expansion Project, Mr Kwabena Barffuor, said there was more request for pineapple suckers this year after a successful supply in 2017 and 2018.
According to him, the demand doubled from the inception of the project from six million suckers to 13.3 million suckers this year.
“Our checks indicate that it is very good to supply farmers with the plants, and we will supply more this year”, he assured.
Beneficiary
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Mr Solomon Wiafe Ntow, the CEO of the Golden Riverside Company, expressed his gratitude to the GEPA for their support.
He said his company would deploy techniques learnt at trainings, which were organised by their suppliers, to exceed the expectation of GEPA.
