3-DAY TRAINING WORKSHOP ON INTEGRATED SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT (ISFM) ENDS IN WENCHI, BONO REGION.

July 26, 2024

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Soil Research Institute (SRI), in partnership with AGRA-USAID and AMYA AGRO PLUS LTD, has organized a 3-day training workshop from July 15 to 17, 2024, on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) for stakeholders in Wenchi. The workshop aims to contribute to food security, poverty reduction, and resilient food systems in northern Ghana as part of the partnership for implementing Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA).

The workshop was to satisfy the objective of creating awareness and building the capacity of stakeholders on ISFM practices under the AGRA/CSIR-SRI/SAR and AMYA Agro Plus Project on “Advancing Agriculture through Upscaling of Innovative Soil Health Technologies in Ghana”. This initiative aims to enhance soil fertility, improve agricultural productivity, and boost livelihoods in Northern Ghana, where agriculture is a major source of employment.

Dr Edward Yeboah, a Chief Research Scientist and former director at CSIR-SRI, leads the project. In his opening speech, he outlined the following project objectives:

To enhance farmer resilience by promoting and upscaling profitable fertilizer recommendations including the existing fertilizer blends for cereals (maize, rice) and grain legumes (cowpea, soybean, groundnut) in northern Ghana
To foster greater food security and improved nutrition by promoting climate-smart agricultural technologies to reduce the risk of climate change on crop productivity.
To increase production and yields of cereals and legumes cropping systems through scaling up proven innovative Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technologies.
To create awareness and build the capacity of all stakeholders on ISFM

Participants were trained on thirteen (13) modules that included topics on;

Basic knowledge of plant nutrition
The new paradigm of ISFM
Soil organic matter (SOM) management
African Soils and their productivity with special reference to Ghana soils
Biofertilizers
Source and Management of Nitrogen fertilizers
The importance of cropping system in soil fertility maintenance
The Urea Deep placement technology
Innovative ways of financing fertilizer for smallholder farmers
Management of phosphorus fertilizers
The Fertilizer micro-dose and warrant age technology
Fertilizer Use Efficiency (FUE)
The Economies of Fertilizer Use

The workshop also included discussions on the modules taught, emerging questions and answers related to the topics, observations of extension and field officers regarding agricultural practices on their farmer’s farms, fertilizer use, and application, the use of certified seeds, soil water conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation and the inclusion of gender-diverse groups.

Participants at the workshop included research scientists, regional directors (MoFA), technicians, and agric. Extension agents on Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM).