Bushfire Devastates 150 Farmers

Francis Npong, Tamale

One hundred and fifty (150) hectares of rice and mango farms belonging to individual farmers in the West Mampurusi, Savelugu/Nanton and Karaga District have been bent down completely by bush fires.

This includes100 hectare of organic mango plantation at Jangna, and 20 hectares of rice farms at Magnayili and Burugu in Savelugu/Nanton and Karaga District respectively.

These farmers were being supported by Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC), a subsidiary company of Wienco Ghana Limited, according to the Coordinator of Organic Mango Out growers Association (OMOA), Mr. Ishaku Iddrisu.
Briefing the Enquirer on activities of bushfire in an exclusive interview, the coordinator who lamented the rampant bush burning activities said the situation had left over 200 poor farmers devastated.

The bushfire he alleged was caused by rats’ hunters, cigarette smokers, and some farmers themselves. “The major culprits in bush burning businesses are rats’ hunters whose activities need to be curbed”, he said.

The rice farms he explained got bent because of the inaccessibility of combined harvesters. “Combined harvesters are not available to a chunk of farmers and this always leaves their farms at the mercy of bushfires”, Mr. Iddrisu said.

He said that the association in collaboration with ITFC company though established fire volunteers at each vantage point they were lacking requisite equipment to fight fire. Some of these equipments he said they needed for effective fire fighting include means of transportation, water cans, sprayers and fire extinguishers among others.

He therefore appeal to organizations to support come into the aid of the farmers to help them recover from shocks as a result of their loss.