On 2nd May, 2014, the Market Development (MADE) Programme for Northern Ghana aired its maiden farmer education programme on GBC– Radio Savannah, Tamale.
The programme which marked the rice pre-planting and planting season was aired for a period of three weeks in English, Gonja and Dagbanli.
Topics discussed on the radio programmes were:
- the emerging demand for aromatic/perfume rice varieties such as Jasmine 85
- land preparation and planting techniques
- good agronomic practices that farmers need to adopt to achieve higher yields
- seed and inputs requirements
In August 2014, the second phase of the media campaign on rice was held to mark the mid planting season. The radio programmes which run for three weeks on Radio Savannah, Tamale focused on good practices for weed control, soil fertility, rouging and water management.
The media campaign on rice was run in collaboration with the CSIR – Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Avnash Industries and Savanna Irrigation Farms (SIFA)/SIFA Agrotrade Ltd. Other resource persons on the radio programmes where lead rice farmers who shared their success stories and experiences from the adoption of good agronomic with fellow farmers.