Over 1,100 farmers in the Techiman Municipality and its environs have benefited from the government's free fertilizer and hybrid maize seed initiative under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) phase two.  The initiative aimed at ensuring food security in the country by promoting food production in Techiman to become  a food basket for the Bono East Region. The distribution of free fertilizer and hybrid maize seed was part of the government's efforts to promote the PFJ phase two, which aimed at increasing food production in Techiman.  About 220 farmers had already received their share of the inputs, while the rest were expected to receive theirs later in the month to enable them to cultivate sufficient food for both local and foreign consumption. Each farmer is expected to receive two bags of NPK fertilizer, 1 bag of UREA fertilizer, and 10kg of Hybrid maize seed for one-acre of land. Mr. Benjamin Yaw Gyarko, the Techiman Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) together with Mr. Stephen Aidoo, the Techiman Munic ipal Director of Agriculture, on Wednesday presented the inputs to the farmers at Nkwaeso near Techiman. Mr. Gyarko commended the government and Mr. Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, Member of Parliament for the Techiman South constituency and Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development, for his effort in securing the offer for the constituency on time.  He urged farmers to adhere to the advice from the Agricultural Extension Officers to ensure good yields. Mr. Sulemana Iddirisu and Attaa Ameyaw, on behalf of the benefiting farmers, commended the MP and government for instituting such a laudable initiative to  improve their livelihood conditions. Mr. Stephen Aidoo said the government had also put in additional livelihood interventions for farmers who would cultivate more than one acre of land and entreated farmers who needed more fertilizer to register with the agriculture extension officers to enable them to purchase from registered input dealers. Source: Ghana News Agency