MOFA Should Provide Assistance In Cultivation Of Imported Pineapple Suckers

Mr Tonny Minna, a pineapple exporter, has appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture to provide farmers with the technical-know how on the planting of MD2 type pineapple suckers imported by government from Costa Rica, which have high value on the International market. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Minna said small pineapple exporters could not produce the MD2 type in large quantities with good quality because they did not have the necessary skills. The Ghana Export Promotion Centre (GEPC) has since facilitated the promotion of the MD2 materials with two million dollars support from government to the Sea-Freight Pineapple Exporters and the Horticultural Association of Ghana but their training programme did not trickle down to the farmers and other exporters. He said the Smooth Caynne, which was the local type, could not compete favourably with the MD2 in terms of quality and price and for that reason the business was fast dwindling. Mr Minna further appealed to the Export Development Investment Fund (EDIF) to go a step further to assist the small scale exporters financially to boost their businesses because they did not have collateral as those in big businesses. This, he said, would enable farmers to revive their farms by planting the right quality and quantity to sustain their businesses.