Ghana’s Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has launched a national cashew mass spraying exercise as part of measures to increase production.
The cashew mass spraying exercise, which is being piloted, will cover most cashew growing areas in the Brong Ahafo Region and extended to other parts of the country by 2020.
Records show that about 85 percent of the cashew farmers in Ghana are located in the Brong Ahafo Region, in the middle belt of the country, contributing about 197 million US dollars in revenue in 2016.
The free mass spraying exercise, targeting over 70,000 acres of cashew farms in 2018, is supported by GEPA.
Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, Gifty Klenam, explained that cashew had the potential to become Ghana’s leading export commodity, if well supported.
It is expected that by 2027, cashew fruits and seeds would be processed in Ghana to add value to the product and also create job opportunities.
As part of steps to make the country one of the world’s leading producer of the cash crop, about 2,000 million improved grafted cashew seedlings would be supplied to farmers for cultivation on an annual basis.
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