Rice yield rises to 6.9 tonnes per hector as market challenges persist — ICOUR
ICOUR records 6.9-tonne rice yield at Tono as farmers struggle with poor market prices
The Irrigation Company of the Upper Region Limited (ICOUR) has recorded a significant improvement in rice productivity, with preliminary figures indicating an average yield of 6.9 tonnes per hectare at the Tono Irrigation Scheme in the Upper East Region.
The Managing Director of ICOUR, Dr. Dominic Anarigide, disclosed this while speaking on the Big Mike Breakfast Show on Monday, August 10, where he discussed efforts to improve rice and tomato production under the company’s irrigation schemes.
According to him, the Tono Irrigation Scheme remains largely dedicated to rice cultivation, with between 95 and 98 percent of the scheme currently being used for rice production.
He said the Vea Irrigation Scheme, however, continues to operate below its full capacity due to challenges with its irrigation canals.
Dr. Anarigide explained that rice yields at Tono had increased from about 6.5 tonnes per hectare recorded previously to a preliminary figure of 6.9 tonnes per hectare in the current farming season.
“This season, the preliminary assessment shows that our yield per hectare has gone up to 6.9 tonnes per hectare,” he stated.
He attributed the improvement partly to training programmes introduced to help farmers adopt modern farming practices, including proper nursery establishment, row transplanting, appropriate fertiliser application, effective water management and improved post-harvest handling.
Despite the improvement in productivity, Dr. Anarigide identified marketing as one of the major challenges confronting rice farmers.
He said farmers were sometimes forced to sell their produce at prices that did not adequately cover their production costs.
“The price is not good. It’s not that they are not buying, they are buying, but the price at which they are buying is very poor relative to the cost of production,” he said.
To address the challenge, ICOUR has established a rice processing mill through a public-private partnership and secured a transformer to enable the facility to operate effectively.
The company has also signed an agreement with the National Food Buffer Stock Company to create a ready market for processed rice produced from the scheme.
Dr. Anarigide said the initiative was aimed at strengthening the rice value chain by ensuring that farmers had access to a reliable market after production.
“If the farmers produce and they don’t also sell, would they produce the next season? They will not be able to produce the next season,” he explained.
He further urged farmers to embrace modern agricultural technologies and adopt market-oriented production practices, stressing that increased productivity must be matched with profitable markets.
Dr. Anarigide assured farmers that ICOUR would continue working with them and other stakeholders to reduce production costs, improve the quality of rice and strengthen the value chain to make rice farming a sustainable and profitable business.
He said improving productivity, processing and market access remained critical to strengthening rice production and improving the livelihoods of farmers within the irrigation schemes.
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