Councilor Tahiru Fullah of Ward 318, Barri chiefdom in the Pujehun district who is also the chairman of the agriculture committee in the Pujehun district council has disclosed to Awoko that councilors are still distributing seed rice to farmers even as the planting season is almost drawing to an end.
“The district was supplied 1,300 bushels of seed rice this planting season but that was not enough to be distributed to every farmer in the district” The councilor revealed.
In an exclusive interview with the councilor at his office in Pujehun, he explained that when the seed rice were given to the district Ministry of Agriculture all councilors were called upon in July this year to collect 23 bushels on behalf of their different wards.
He went on to explain that to cover up for the insufficient seed rice every councilor was given the sum of Le675,000 to buy seed rice from the market.
Councilor Fullah said most of the seed rice were bought at a time farmers had already spent their own money to buy seed rice so that they could catch up with the periodic time table of farming.
“Most of us are still distributing seed rice to our farmers” He stated.
Councilor Tahiru Fullah further disclosed that most of the seed rice was bought from other districts and some of them cannot thrive in Pujehun because of difference in soil texture. This he said has further made it difficult for even swamp land farmers to use the seed rice.
He blamed the delay in the distribution of seed rice on the late arrival of input in the district. He added that this will have an adverse effect on rice production this year.
The councilor called on government to improve on the timing of sending seed rice to farmers if they want the district to be successful in rice production.
He made a special appeal to the government for more tractors to be given to the district to enable them embark on large scale agriculture.
“Gbo Ndapi alone needs 30 tractors for Rice cultivation” he stated.
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