The Western Regional Cocoa Health And Extension Division of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has partnered Agri Plus, distributors of Agric Insecticides, to train cocoa farmers and other stakeholders including CHED Officials in the Region on the newly introduced anti-capsid (Akate) insecticide.
Apart from increasing cocoa yield, application of the new insecticide, Transform Akate is to aid cocoa farmers to contain insects and pest infestations in their farms.
Transform Akate had undergone series of test and proven to be the most active anti-capsid insecticide that is able to fight the age-long capsid infestation, “Akate” and other destructive insect borers that invade pre-harvest cocoa farms.
The product pilot in the Ashanti Region was highly successful hence its extension to farmers in the Western Region and subsequently replicated across all cocoa-growing communities nationwide.
According to Mr. Samuel Ankamah Asare, Western South Manager of the Cocoa Health And Extension Division of COCOBOD the training was to inform the farmers and officers responsible for the spraying of the anti-capsid insecticide to adhere to the instructions regarding the usage of the product for maximum yield, “the testimonies and results emanating from the application of the product is amazing, that`s the reason for COCOBOD procuring the product for its mass spraying exercise and that farmers will have it applied in their farmlands at no cost to them“.
He further explained that CHED is going to encourage the mass spraying teams to make sure it goes down well to the farms as far as cocoa production is concerned.
Sales and Marketing Manager for Agri Plus, Stephen Appiah Yeboah affirmed that the product had undergone a ten-year research and testing, and thus provides a perfect solution to fighting capsid, black pod diseases and other insect infestations that attack coaco farms, trees and beans subsequently.
The product unlike other insecticides is environmentally friendly with an excellent knockdown and residual efficacy,
“We sat down through painstaking research that we wanted to come up with a product that will not only kill ‘Akate’ but will be environmentally friendly and healthy for the users, farmers and sprayers” Mr Appiah Yeboah explained, adding “it supports flowering of the cocoa plant, by isolating beneficial insects that supports the natural reproduction of plants, and only attack the infectious ones”
Mr. Appiah Yeboah continued that the company has a team of technical and extension officers to compliment that of COCOBOD to enhance the application of the insecticides and its resulting outcome.
“What we have as a strategy is to work in line with the structure of COCOBOD to ensure that the dose rate is gotten right. We have our own extension agents who work with the extension officers of COCOBOD and the communities, engage with the farmers, educate them on the application of this product” he mentioned.
Transform Akate is a trademark for ISOCLAST Active, a new foliar-applied sap-feeding insecticide for control of a wide range of sap-feeding pests manufactured by Corteva Agriscience.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Nana Adjoa Hagan
