Farmers Affected By Swollen Shoot To Be Paid Fully- Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has promised to compensate farmers who have been hit hard by the swollen shoot virus spreading in cocoa farms in the country.
At the launch of the cocoa rehabilitation programme, the president said every farmer will be counted in the ongoing compensation package.
According to COCOBOD figures, 11,564 hectares of cocoa plantations in the Western North and Eastern regions have been affected by the disease, which decreases cocoa yield within the first year of infection, and usually kills the tree within a few years.
The destroyed trees have been replaced.
“This involves 8,904 farmers out of which 7,358 have been fully compensated. I want to assure our cocoa farmers that not a single farmer will be left out.
“Every farmer whose farm has been affected by swollen shoot will be paid fully in the ongoing compensation exercise,” President Akufo-Addo said at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western North Region.
The symptoms of swollen shoot usually varies. It can be leaf discolouration, stem or root swelling. The virus is transmitted from tree to tree by a mealybug.
In February this year, about 17% of the country’s cocoa farms were affected by the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease (CSSVD), thus threatening cocoa production.
The figure represented more than 315,000 hectares of the 1.6 million hectares of the country’s entire cocoa farms.
In August this year, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control, Emmanuel Agyeman Dwomoh explained that 500,000 of cocoa trees in the country were affected by the virus.
Mr Dwomoh said the country had been experiencing dwindling cocoa production after the 2010/11 cocoa crop year.
He further noted that the country’s cocoa production of 900,000 metric tonnes in the 2016/17 crop season further declined to 811,000 in the 2018/19 crop season due to the CSSVD.
In light of happenings, the government stepped up its cocoa rehabilitation programme to compensate farmers.
The compensation grant was under the National Rehabilitation programme and it was for farmers who agree to cut and replant their cocoa swollen shoot virus crop.
The exercise was aimed at reversing the dwindling cocoa production in the area, which used to produce about one-third of the nation’s annual cocoa output.
