Wildfires destroy food crops in North-East Region

Wildfires have destroyed several hectares of food crops while houses and farmlands are under threat in many rural farming communities in the North-East Region.

Food crops like rice, beans, soya beans and maize have been burnt beyond salvage at a time farmers are harvesting and others threshing.

Some farmers at Gbilugu, a farming community near Walewale in the West Mamprusi Municipality, and the Gbiligu Ecological Farm, have lost almost all produce to this year’s fires.

Beehives and a teak plantation at the Ecological Farm have not been spared either.

He said he had lost about 2.9 hectares of rice, 0.6 hectares of soyabeans, 0.4 hectares of maize, and 0.2 hectares of beans while a friend of his lost about 2.5 hectares of rice.

It is only some of the maize that we have been able to harvest but we have not even started harvesting the rice and the fire has burnt everything….”

Alidu Adams, another farmer, said he had lost all his 3.3 hectares of rice to the wildfire and that the situation, coupled with the current economic crisis would be dire, while Ibrahim Torisariye, said he lost about 2.9 hectares of rice.