Climate Change affects watermelon production — Ada farmers

Farmers in the Ada West District of the Greater Accra Region has revealed that the unpredictable rainfall associated with climate change conditions has affected the growth and production of watermelon in the area.

Speaking in an interview in Ada, Mr. Bright Kpalam, a watermelon farmer at Toflokpo near Sege said “it was difficult sowing watermelon this year due to the erratic rainfall pattern making us hesitant in planting initially but many took the risk thinking that the rain might come later to help them grow.”

According to some of the farmers, the watermelon farming season in Ada starts mainly from late December through January to February, and harvesting starts from March.

He said the unreliable rainfall system this year has entirely affected watermelon growth on every farm, “Our watermelon may be destroyed due to the heat and lack of rain at the right time.”

Mr. Kpalam noted that the rain is their only source of water for farming hence, any slight change of the weather condition which delays the rainfall normally affects our farming activities.

He said although the area is a major source of watermelon production in the country, farmers only depend on the rainfall.

He indicated that the water crises facing the Ada West District have also worsened the case and therefore appealed to the government to roll out policies that would provide the farmers with a mechanized irrigation system to boost farming productivity in the area.

“With good policies on modern farming and irrigation, we will even farm throughout the year and avoid the seasonal farming that is not currently helping,” he added.

Mrs. Florence Karkie Nartey, another farmer from Salom- Madagber near Sege explained that her watermelons were growing speedily after germination but due to the delays in the rainfall the whole farm is gone.

“My investment this year is gone down the drains I have lost everything,” she said.

Mr. Raphael Sewu, a mixed crop farmer from Toflokpo said due to the poor rainfall pattern this planting season, “we took the risk depending on the weather, predicted when the rains will start falling based on which we started the farming process but the rains have delayed destroying everything we planted”.

He explained, the few people whose watermelon has survived were small as compared to what they normally harvest.

Mr Sewu said irrespective of the challenges with the rainfall, “as a farmer we always take risks so I have started preparing the land for tomatoes and paper production.

“I am praying for rains this year, we don’t want the raining season to be very short period,” he said.