Philip Daniel Laryea (center), GCAP Operations Manager, briefs participants on activities to revitalize the Tono Irrigation Scheme.
Irrigated land farming accounts for 3.2 percent of total agricultural production.
This is because only 226,908.85 hectares or 12 percent of the 1.9 million irrigated land is used to irrigate agricultural production.
In total, 1.67 million hectares, representing 88 percent of the country's irrigated land, are yet to be developed.
This leaves a large portion of the country's agricultural products to rain, with a small portion created by growing greenhouse production.
This has raised concerns among stakeholders who have called for increased investment to improve the country's irrigation infrastructure.
Lack of investment in new irrigation infrastructure and maintenance of existing schemes is an irrigation factor dependent on irrigated land.
The Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers (GNAPF) and the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have emphasized the importance of increasing the use of irrigation interventions to improve productivity and lift people out of poverty.
They lamented the limited agricultural land, insisting that the government should invest more in agriculture so that the country could produce food at a lower cost.
Irrigation projects
However, the government has begun the process of building six small irrigation dams to provide year-round irrigation water for farming.
The Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), an agency under the Department of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), started the process of building dams last year.
Duadinyediga projects in Tempane District in Upper East District, Kpalbutabu in Tatale-Sangli District in the Northern Region, and four others are located elsewhere within the district.
They are considered to be the development of many irrigation areas and the construction of dams.
Wilson K. Darkwah, CEO, GIDA
Additionally, there are two major irrigation projects underway. They are the Phase III of the Tamne near Garu in the Upper East Region and the irrigation section of the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam located in the entire North-Eastern region.
In addition, 14 community irrigation schemes, were awarded by the Department of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) between 2019 and last year for the construction of three schemes in the North, four in the Upper East, and seven in the Upper West Region.
GIDA CEO, Wilson K. Darkwah, revealed this in an interview with Daily Graphic in Accra.
According to GIDA's 2022 budget, the Kpong Irrigation Scheme, Tono Irrigation Scheme, Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Project, Mprumem Phase II Irrigation Project in the Central Region, and the Ashaiman Irrigation Spillway will end this year.
The budget also plans for the MoFA to initiate and complete Phase Three of the Tamne which will make 800 hectares available for the development and production of horticultural plants for export.
An estimated 15 000 farmers will benefit from the facility.
Context
The initiative is also to ensure food security and address climate change, which has adversely affected rainfall and rainfall patterns worldwide, particularly in the sahalean regions.
Increased use of irrigation, which is widely used in the production of whole grains such as rice, maize, other cereals, and vegetables, could help the country significantly reduce food imports and improve farmers' incomes.
It is estimated that between 2007 and 2015, rice sales increased from $ 151 million to $ 1.2 billion.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanten, told Parliament in December last year that the country had spent an estimated GH ? 6.874 billion on rice exports between 2017 and 2020.
Possible
According to agricultural experts and irrigation experts, the country has a huge potential for irrigation development that can be used to increase agricultural productivity and food security in the country.
GIDA said irrigation planting is done twice a year but under optimal conditions, it can be done three times on temporary crops.
Categories
Improved irrigation land is divided into informal farms and small farms; large size and trade; official and government irrigation schemes.
The informal and commercial sectors cover a large proportion of irrigated land (226,908.85 ha).
While the informal sector covers 189,000 hectares, irrigated fields cover 21,000 hectares. The informal and commercial sectors include emerging farmers like all vegetable growers in cities and communities.
There are 189 official and government irrigation schemes nationwide covering 16,908.85 hectares of irrigated land.
They include the Tono and Vea Irrigation schemes, Kpong, Torgome, and Weta Irrigation schemes, all located in the Volta Region, and the Ashaiman scheme in the Greater Accra Region.
Statistics show that about 93 percent of the total irrigated land is currently owned by the commercial industry.
Guessing
Guessing to the Ghana Commercial Agricultural Project (GCAP), the revitalization of two irrigation schemes - the Tono and Vea dams, will save the figure.
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