A Brazilian processing company, Usibra Ghana Limited, is to establish a $25 million cashew processing plant in Ghana. The plant, which is expected to process 300 metric tonnes of cashew daily, will provide about 2,000 direct jobs in the country.

The Director of Usibra Ghana Limited, Mr. Tarisco Falcao, announced this when he paid a call to the Minister of trade and Industry, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, in Accra. Usibra is the largest cashew nut processing company in Brazil, with two units capable of processing 70,000 metric tonnes of cashew nuts per season.

The company has a subsidiary, Nutsco, in Camden, New Jersey, USA, which processes and distributes cashew and other nuts in the US market. Usibra has an investment potential of $45 million.

Briefing the minister, Mr. Falcao said 80 per cent of the cashew processed in Ghana would be exported to the US and European markets. He stated that growers would be paid a good price for their cashews, in order to stimulate further production.

Source: ghanabusinessnews.com

SCIENTISTS in the country want the strict Liabilities Act under the Environmental Management Act (2004) repealed to enable them start research on how the country can start using genetically engineered crops.

Speaking to ‘Daily News on Saturday’ in Dar es Salaam, the chief researcher at Bio Self, Mr Peter Bagenda, urged that the government should institute a policy that allows agricultural scientists to conduct research and trials on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in different research centres.

He said that the Act under the Environmental Management Act does not allow the application of such research and that it should therefore be amended.”Scientists are interested in carrying out that research, but first, a change in legislation and policy should put in place that framework that allows the use of GMOs by researchers in the fields,” he said.

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The Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, has hinted that the government, through the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), would plant over five million trees in the 50 districts within the SADA operational area to mitigate the effects of climate change.

According to him, the project, dubbed “SADA Afforestation Project,” was aimed at reducing severe devastation from rainstorms which seem to have become an annual occurrence in most parts of the north, and also prevent desertification in the savannah zones.

The Vice President, who announced this at a ceremony in Tamale to commission 100 brand new Mahindra Tractors for distribution to farmers in the SADA areas, said a substantial amount of money was being set aside for the smooth take off of the project.

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Arusha — THE government intends to spend two billion/- to purchase a new aircraft as well as repair the existing, but grounded plane to undertake aerial crop spraying applications for the Arusha based, Plant Health Service Department.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Mohammed Muya stated here that the plant protection unit located at Tengeru in Meru District, has for years been depending on other international organizations in conducting aerial crop-dusting.

“Due to lack of aircraft units to perform the aerial applications in agriculture, we have been compelled to hire planes from the International Red Locust and Desert Locust Control Centres in Africa especially the Ndola (Zambia) based units in order to assist Tanzania perform its own crop dusting exercises whenever the situation calls for it,” said Mr Muya in Arusha over the weekend.

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IN attempts to back up government-led ‘Kilimo Kwanza’ initiative, a Dar es Salaam-based company, dubbed “Noble Motors Limited (NML),” recently launched two newly low-fuel consumption and affordable farm machinery.

These were a 40 hp Powertrac 439 tractor, with inventor and Powertrac 4455, a 55hp tractor with 4 cylinders. Speaking to ‘Daily News’ in an exclusive interview at the official launching of the tractors, the company’s Agricultural Machinery Division Sales Manager, Max Mhagama said the firm was more than committed to enabling farmers to access modern farm implements suited to the realities of the country.

Through its Agricultural Machinery Division, the company’s other main tractor brands it deals in are Farmtrac 80 and Powertrac from Escorts Ltd of India; Foton Lovol tractors from China and other farm implements, trailers, power tillers and combine harvesters.

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