As part of its Productivity Enhancement Programme (PEP), the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has pruned about 12, 424.4 hectares of cocoa farms this year in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions.
The mass pruning exercise, which started in March 2019 and is expected to end this month, forms part of the implementation of various programmes by COCOBOD to improve the yield of cocoa farmers without necessarily expanding their farms.
The pruning is being done to remove some cocoa trees and branches from overcrowded cocoa farms to allow enough sunshine and air which are necessary to improve the health of the trees for better yields.
A total of 14,645 cocoa farms and 14,510 cocoa farmers have benefited from the exercise executed by 2,719 hired labourers.
Testimony
A prominent cocoa farmer at Kwasuso, Mr Anthony Appiah Ankrah, said the government assisted in pruning three acres out of his 60-acre cocoa farm and explained that the increased production from the pruned area had encouraged him to prune the remaining area himself.
He stated that the pruning exercise, coupled with the provision of liquid fertiliser, artificial pollination and the supply of other inputs had begun to have a positive impact on the cocoa industry and appealed to the government to expand such policies and programmes.
Source: BestNewsGH.com
