Environment

Video Material, most essential for farmers-Dr. Roger L. Kanton of CSRI

• By Digme Kantayir
• May 30, 2018
• 39

A Principal Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) has called on stakeholders in the agricultural setting to consider education of farmers through the use of video clips.

Dr. Roger L. Kanton said, considering the various forms of disseminating information to farmers, the production of video materials for farmers was a better option as it would as well educate the general masses on best farming practices.

The Agronomist, maintained that a visual memory would be easily remembered by the farmer especially that they are translated into local languages.'in school our children chew pour pass and forget.. ..but they don't forget the videos they watch' he added.

The head of Agronomic Systems at the Upper East Region Farming Systems Research Group (UER-FSRG) said the videos which would be targeted at farmers would also benefit younger people as they would have learnt some basics in farming whilst growing up, Quoting the popular saying "catch them young" which means our future could be encouraged by such materials. 

Dr. Roger Kanton who spoke to our source at the sideline of a video screening exercise on the best practices of Soybean cultivation, at the Oasis Lounge in Tamale yesterday, said multimedia access in the rural areas should not be under rated and should be taken advantageously to improve the livelihood of the farmer for our food security.

The Video which was produced by Countrywise Communications and Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) with support from Green-ef, Sairla and CSIR-SARI in to eight local languages, which include, Dagaare, Buli, Gonja, Lekpakpa, Sisaali, Kusal, Mambruli, and Kasem. The farming materials is to be sent across to two hundred (200) communities across the northern part of the country. A total of Seventy Thousand people are being targeted for this exercise as Soybean is described as the most economical legume for our farmers.

Communication specialist for CABI, Duncan Sones said the project was also creating an access database for farmers across the catchment areas. Mr. Sones added that the best way to reach out to farmers was to create much convenience with readily available information for the farmer and as such farmers could be contacted with any useful information to better their field production.

The exercise  has also engaged the services of Tamale based musicians Chuggu Boys on composing a song on the best practices for Soybean farming to serve as curtain raisers during the screening at the communities.

Source: WatchGhana