By Abdulai Fasineh Dumbuya
In order to ease the crisis surrounding onion in the country, the Smallholder Commercialization and Agribusiness Development Project (SCADeP) has issued agricultural products like onion seeds and fertilizers to over 40 farmers in Makeni.
The Assistant Director of Crop Division at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), Fatmata Margai, in a radio interview noted that the support is in line with the government’s efforts to address onion shortage and increase its production in the country.
She stated that the global community is affected by the onion-ridden crisis and that Sierra Leone is not alone in the problem, saying the government is paying more attention to it so that self-sufficiency in onion production can be achieved. She went on to say that with this effort, the government is ensuring that in the event imported onion is not available the locally grown will fill the gap.
With government's vision to succeed in the “Feed Salone Project,” she said the onion project is part of its effort to succeed in the Project; an initiative she noted is aimed at addressing food sufficiency in the country.
“This is also in line with the goal to cut down onion importation in the country,” she said.
Margai stated that the onion seed and fertilizers support earmarked for 10 hectares of farmland requires readiness by the farmers, noting the labour intensiveness nature of the project considering the size of the land.
She encouraged the farmers to utilise the fertilizer properly to maximize greater yield, otherwise, the outcome would reduce drastically.
The Project Coordinator at SCADeP, Sulaiman Sesay urged the farmers to make use of the 899 toll-free line of MAFS in order to receive expert advice from well-trained people on how to diligently utilize the fertilizer.
“They will get fertilizer guidance during planting as well as harvesting periods. They will also receive guidance on which type of fertilizer and the quantity to apply by using different native languages the callers can easily understand,” he said.
Smallholder Commercialization and Agribusiness Development Project is a World Bank-funded project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to promote smallholder commercialization by fostering productive business in the country.
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