Subsidy on inputs under government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ (PFJ) programme has been cut further for the upcoming 2022 crop season, a document available to the B&FT from the Agriculture Ministry has indicated.
The decline in subsidies by government will expectedly impose an extra financial burden on smallholder farmers across the country, who are already battling the phenomenon of difficulty in purchasing necessary farm inputs for production.
The intention to further cut the existing subsidy of 38 percent to 15 percent for chemical fertilisers, and reducing the 40 percent subsidy on organic fertilisers to 25 percent in the upcoming 2022 crop season, has sparked worry and uncertainty among peasant and smallholder farmers under the programme.
The development means that in the 2022 season, government will pay only GH¢29 out of GH¢189 being the cost of a 25kg bag of NPK fertiliser. The rest of the GH¢160 cost will be borne by farmers under the PFJ.
Speaking on Plan B FM’s ‘Ebaanosen” with Bohyeba Afriyie, The Public Relations officer of the Peasant farmers Association Benjamin safo revealed their take on the new prices .
“We have stake holders across the world and so we have communicated the update with them and are yet to receive their responds it’s after that we will know the next steps to take.
“Our major problem is the extra burden that will be on our small scale farmers because the update will increase the cost of production and that will affect the small scale farmers more.”
“As it stands, smallholder farmers have no choice but to cope with the growing trend of being faced with a subsidy-cut every crop season,” he said.
He concluded that this occurrence will have a dire effect on the cost of food by consumers.
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