Kantora Chief optimistic about ‘bumper harvest’

He said the expectation is for high output within his farming communities, especially for crops like rice, maize, findi and groundnuts.

According to chief Ceesay, their efforts in getting fertilizer from Senegal and applying it on their farms on time has yielded dividends, thus their expectation of a bumper harvest.

The chief of Kantora was speaking in an interview with this reporter at Garawol village, shortly after a day-long field visit by the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture among them project directors and other stakeholders.

Organised by the office of the Director General of Agriculture, the field visit was for technicians to meet the farmer beneficiaries of their projects, share experiences, knowledge and skills on best practices that can improve agricultural production and productivity, as well as to popularize the Vision 2016 initiative.

According to chief Ceesay, this year’s rainy season was very promising as there was heavy rain fall in his area, where crops were planted at a very early stage. Farming communities were able to get fertilizer in neighbouring Senegal on time and at minimal cost, which had helped the farmers greatly, he added.

He commended the farmers in his district for their commitment and hard work, adding that with the support from the government projects, there is no doubt that Vision 2016 would be achieved.

“All what we need is the resources and manpower. The potential vast land is available to produce enough rice or other crops for consumption purposes,” he said.

The chief also encouraged everybody to take farming seriously, as it is only agriculture which can help them toward self-sufficiency in food in the country, as advocated by the Gambian leader.

He said the people of Kantora will continue to support the President’s initiatives, programs and projects being implemented in the country, and urged Gambians to take ownership of the vision that would help them to be self reliant.

Also commenting on the field visit, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Sherifo Bojang, who headed the delegation, said it was meant to showcase some of the achievements of the agricultural centre in Chamen in terms of the crops grown there.

The centre manager took extension workers, farmers and project coordinators on tour, to see what was grown and how to achieve success.

Bojang said a similar tour would be conducted in Garawol, and thanked the department of Agriculture and the director-general’s office for conducting this exercise for farmers to enlighten them more about the Vision 2016 initiative.