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A Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of Crops, Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, has refuted allegations that the government intends to cancel the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme (FSP) being implemented by the government. He said there was no such policy decision to withdraw the programme, adding that should there be any such intent, it would be done in consultation with the same stakeholders before it is executed. Dr Alhassan told the GRAPHIC BUSINES in Accra that the challenge with the system had to do with the warehousing receipts financing system. Warehouse receipts (WRs) are issued as evidence that specified commodities of stated quantity and quality have been deposited at particular locations by named depositors. He said since there were arrears to be cleared it would be morally wrong to go to the same companies you owe to deliver, especially when these are not small sums. �I want to assure the farmers that the ministry has finished all our necessary work with same companies and also following up at the Ministry of Finance to get the resources to redeem the debt and when we do that then we do the 2014 programme,� he said. The concern of farmers The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and Small Scale Women and Men Farmers recently appealed to government not to cancel fertilizer subsidy since the move would be disastrous to members and eventually collapse the agriculture sector. A statement issued to the media and co-signed by the President of PFAG, Mr Nashiru Mohammed, and his Vice, Mr Godwin Atokple, appealed to the government to pragmatically approach the issue with all the urgency it deserved and make subsidised fertilizer available at affordable prices as early as possible, and also provide additional incentives to small scale farmers that will enable them to live a comfortable life to continue to supply the country with the needed food supply. The Fertiliser Subsidy Programme (FSP) The Fertliser Subsidy Programme (FSP) was initiated by government in 2008 to help farmers increase their rate of fertiliser use and increase production. In the 2013 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, the continuous introduction of technology to improve agricultural production remained the main focus of government policy interventions. These interventions included the adoption of livestock production technologies, agricultural mechanisation, irrigation development, fertiliser subsidy, seed improvement, quality standardisation and the implementation of modern buffer stock management techniques. Improved seeds of maize, rice and soyabean The budget statement for 2014, a total of GH�226.3 million has been allocated for this sector. About GH�214.9 million of this allocation, representing 94.5 per cent, is to be spent on poverty focused agriculture. These include spending on Coastal Fishing Habours and Landing sites, Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure, the Fertilizer Subsidy programme and the Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres.