The School of Agriculture has held a research seminar for both faculty and students at the C. A.听Ackah听Lecture听Theatre.
Opening the听programme, the Dean of the School, Prof. Elvis听Asare-Bediako, underscored the need to learn and share knowledge from one another adding that 鈥淲e do not want to have our research findings remain on shelves forever鈥�.
鈥淵ou can be in animal science for example but you can learn from other areas as well as share what you have with others to make you a complete scientist鈥�.
The Dean of the School noted that, agriculture as a discipline was important to the society and therefore, it was crucial that such seminars were held to learn new developments in the sector.
Prof.听Asare-Bediako听disclosed that the seminar series would be made mandatory for all faculty so that they would show their colleagues and the rest of the world what they profess.
Prof.听Asare-Bediako听said to enrich the seminar, the听organisers听invited resource persons from outside to talk about what was happening on the field. He said through this, faculty would in turn determine what to do to complement what was being done by farmers.
He advised participants to take keen interest in the seminar and share whatever knowledge they would acquire with others.
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Presenting on the topic 鈥淢etafrontier听Analysis of Fish Farms in Ghana: An Empirical Evidence鈥�, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Edward听Ebo听Onumah听said global fish stock was sturdily declining while both marine and inland fishing were also stagnating. In order to bridge the gap between domestic production and demand in fish production, Rev. Dr.听Onumah听said there was the urgent need to increase resources to the sector since current contribution was woefully inadequate.
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鈥淟ack of resources to boost production in the fisheries sector means we will continue to experience little or inadequate fish production鈥�, he said.
In addition, Dr.听Onumah听mentioned that improvement in technical efficiency was paramount to any significant changes that could be made in the sector. He intimated that aquaculture had the capacity to meet the fish requirement of the country since there has been a constant increase in that area for some time now.
Dr.听Onumah听also recommended that managers of the Planting for Food and Jobs听programme听must connect with fish farming since there was huge potential to feed the people as well as provide income to the huge pool of unemployed in the country.
Even though he lauded the intent to use abandoned听galamsey听ponds for fish farming, he however, cautioned against the attempt since it could be detrimental to consumers, if the water was not properly tested.
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A farmer and Director of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation Centre for No-Till Agriculture at听Amanchia,听Okuani听Kofi听Boa, said as population increased and each 鈥榮oul鈥� needed to be fed the land was degrading.
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鈥淧reviously the land was supporting food production, but currently the soil is destroyed and therefore, we now experience poor crop growth and yield鈥�, he said.
Okuani听Boa called for a change from the old paradigm of agriculture to a new one saying 鈥淚ndigenous knowledge and science give us hope, permanent soil cover and non-tillage are possible鈥�. 听
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