A former Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) officer, Samuel Tsatsu Adigreh, says Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was among the list of agrochemicals approved by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).
He said CRIG, in addition to the approval of the agrochemical, sent a team of scientists to assess the effects of the chemical on the field.
According to him, although CHED worked with feedback from CRIG, it did not receive any negative recommendations on the use of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser after a field inspection.
Mr. Adigreh told the Accra Criminal High Court on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, during cross-examination that the Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD) official report, written by the CHED management team, acknowledged the efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser.
He said the CHED management team admitted in its report that farmers were showering praises on the chemical for improving their yields.
Mr. Adigreh added that he witnessed the effectiveness of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser on cocoa trees in 2014/2015 when it was introduced in the Assin Fosu District to farmers.
He maintained that farmers who used Lithovit Fertiliser before it was halted in 2017 by COCOBOD were constantly demanding the agrochemical.
But the Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, cross-examining him doubted his claim and said: “I am putting it to you that your testimony on Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser and the agitation from farmers on that fertiliser is not supported by the records.”
According to Mrs. Keelson, Mr. Adigreh, who is testifying on behalf of COCOBOD’s former Chief Executive (CE), Dr. Stephen Kwabena Opuni, did not have an idea of any report from CRIG recommending Lithovit Folia Fertiliser to the Board.
She added that Mr. Adringra did not know the chemical composition and formulation of the Lithovit Fertiliser.
Nevertheless, the witness reiterated that there was no negative recommendation from CRIG to CHED to show that there was something wrong in the usage of Lithovit.
He further stated that he was not a scientist, but a technical staff who ascertain an effectiveness of the agrochemical through observations.
Dr. Opuni is standing trial on some 27 counts in the suppliers of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser with Seidu Agongo and Agricult Ghana Limited.
The following are the excerpts of proceedings:
Q. Between 2006 and May 2015 when you worked at Assin Fosu you were a junior officer. Is that not so?
A. It is not fully true. I was a junior officer up to 2012, and I had a promotion as a Technical Officer, which is a senior position.
Q. You only became a District Cocoa Offence when you were transferred to Adabokrom?
A. That is correct.
Q. Whiles you were a District Cocoa Officer in Adabokrom no Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was distributed to farmers in Adabokrom. Is that correct?
A. No my lord. Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was distributed to farmers at Adabokrom, but there were settler farmers from the Brong Ahafo Region who had farmed in the Brong Ahafo Region as well as in the Adabokrom District, and those farmers always requested from me to make requisition to the CODAPEC Secretariat to supply us with the Lithovit as well.
Q. In your very short stay at Assin Fosu after the introduction of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser, you did not observe any yields. Is that not so?
A. My lord, Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was introduced at Assin Fosu in 2014/15, and for our operation some farmers had Lithovit in September 2014 and others had it from February 2015, therefore, from that period till April 2015, I observed the performance of Lithovit, as well as other agrochemical supplies to our farmers. This was why when the CHED management team came I was in a position to take them around for inspection on our operations.
Q. I am putting it to you that from your own evidence before this honourable court you only observed flashy leaves, pods, cherelles; that’s all you observed.
Q. My lord, those are the results of the application of the fertiliser. It gives flashy leaves which results into the tree bearing flowers; the flowers grow into cherelles, and the cherelles within three to four months grow into pods. This explains why I said some farmers applied the Lithovit, from September when it was distributed to them, and, therefore, if I did not go to the field I wouldn’t have observed these things.
Q. I am putting it to you that from the evidence of Samuel Torbi, who is a farmer at Assin Fosu, Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was introduced in Assin Fosu in the 2015/16 Cocoa Season?
A. This is not true. Just as I said, some farmers had Lithovit in 2014, whiles others started getting Lithoivt from 2015. As such, it could be that Samuel Torbi had his in 2015, and not [was] among those who had it in 2014. This is because there were other liquid fertilisers like Lifet A and Sidalco already in the system before Lithovit was introduced.
Q. I am further putting it to you that Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was introduced in Assin Fosu in February 2016, by which time you were not in Assin Fosu?
A. This is not correct my Lord. I said earlier that my management team came to Assin Fosu in April 2015. I accompanied them to the field; they inspects our files, operations, including the spraying of Lithovit and other agrochemicals, and at the end of the tour, they put their observation into [a] report, of which they reported on [the] effect of Lithovit on the field. This, therefore, confirms my testimony that Lithovit was introduced in [the] 2014/15 season.
Q. You claim in your evidence-in-chief that you trained the farmers on how to apply the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser. Can you describe to the court the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser you claim you saw?
A. The Lithovit I saw was in a one litre container with a green cap and grey in colour. When you open the container, you smell a sharp scent [at] once, and this product, if you are not able to use all the same day, the following day you will feel a scent like urine. And on the container you have Agricult on it.
Q. Can you tell the court what else is on the container, apart from the Agricult?
A. For me, the most important thing that I deem necessary to know on the container is the dosage. This is the most important thing to me as the technical officer. The other descriptions I can’t tell.
Q. I am putting it to you that the most important prescription on the fertiliser is the method of application and the rate of application?
A. That is what I mentioned earlier. The dosage is the same as rate of application, and being a liquid fertiliser, just like the Sidalco and Lifet A, the method of application is not different.
Q. I am putting it to you that you do not know the method of application and the application rate inscribed on the fertiliser, because you did not handle it?
A. My Lord, the application rate is 30ml, and I trained farmers on how to mix liquid fertiliser with water for application, and this [is] not being different from other liquid fertiliser most farmers who have been trained in the use of liquid fertilisers, so do not need any further training than knowing the dosage. But this notwithstanding, some farmers who happen to be first time users of this liquid fertiliser were taken though the method of application.
Q. Tell the court how much water is required for the 30ml of fertiliser you mentioned?
A. 15 litres of water to 30ml of the chemical. That is when one is using the hand sprayer. We use the hand sprayer for younger cocoa in spraying, and use the mist blower for the mature crops.
Q. I am putting it to you that from the label on the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser the mist blower is not used by users to apply the fertiliser on the cocoa tree?
A. My Lord, each and every one of us here knows the nature of cocoa tree. A standard mature cocoa tree is about 7 feet, whereas most farmers who do not prune their farm have their height of cocoa more than 10 feet, and no farmer can use the hand sprayer to spray trees of sun height. Therefore, the fact that the manufacturer did not indicate that mist blower should be used it is common knowledge to us the technical staff that [the] mist blower is the appropriate equipment to use for mature cocoa farms.
Q. I am putting it to you that the manufacturer indicated on the fertiliser that the knapsack sprayer was to be used in the application of the fertiliser, because it was not meant for mature cocoa?
A. That is not true. It is meant for both matured and young cocoa, just like the other liquid fertiliser. That is how come we applied it on matures cocoa, and every farmer sings praises of its efficacy.
Q. You do not know the chemical composition and formulation of the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser. Is that not so?
A. My Lord, just as you asked me the other time, I am not a scientist. I am just a technical staff, and what I feel is most important to me to know about any chemical is the rate of application and how it should be applied.
Q. You do not know the nature and composition of the Lithovit Fertiliser which Agricult, through Agongo, submitted to CRIG for testing?
A. I am here testifying on Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser. That is what was supplied to CHED for distribution to farmers, and it is among the list of agrochemicals approved by CRIG, which is the scientific wing of COCOBOD. They approved the chemical just like other agrochemicals supplied to us. It is not my responsibility to know the process it had gone through. We are the end users.
Q. You do not have an idea of any report from CRIG recommending Lithovit Foliar Fertiliser to COCOBOD. Is that not so?
A. My Lord, I earlier said Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser is among the list of CRIG-agrochemicals sent to us. Additionally, in the course of our operations in the field, CRIG staff do come to inspect the effects of chemicals we are using, and, if any, give a feedback on it, and therefore since on their visit no negative recommendation about Lithovit came from them to us indicating that there is nothing wrong about its usage.
Q. I am putting it to you that there is no report from CRIG that Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was rated and approved by them?
A. I said CHED management team came for inspection. COCOBOD does not do anything in a vacuum. The CODAPEC/HITEC Secretariat I know will submit its request to COCOBOD on the type of agrochemicals to procure before funds are released for its purchase for farmers. As such, the Secretariat cannot recommend any chemical that they do not know anything about.
Q. I am putting it to you that Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser is what you know, because that was what COCOBOD purchased for farmers. Is that not so?
A. Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser is the only Lithovit Fertiliser I know.
Q. You did not appear before the Dr. Adu-Ampomah Committee set up by COCOBOD in 2017. Is that not so?
A. Yes, my Lord. I even don’t know there was any committee set up by COCOBOD.
Q. So you have no idea what that committee was looking for.
A. My Lord, my being here is to testify on the efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser that farmers used and are clamouring for more to be supplied to them, and which my CHED management team also, in the course of their tour visit, testified that it is very effective and the demand for it from farmers as compared to other liquid fertilisers was higher.
Q. I am putting it to you that as you sit here, you have no capacity whatsoever to comment on the finding and conclusions contained in the Adu-Ampomah Committee report, let alone challenge it?
A. My Lord, I earlier said that I did not know that there was any Dr. Ady-Ampomah Committee. How then do I speak to a committee that I know nothing of? So I haven’t spoken on any committee findings, but rather on my own observations of the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser, the reports from the farmers, my CHED management team report. This is what I have spoken of.
Q. I am further putting it to you that you have no capacity to comment on the findings of the University of Ghana report on Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser, because you are not a scientist?
A. My Lord, I remember I said I was not there when the said Lithovit Fertiliser was tested by the University of Ghana. What I said was that having seen the efficacy of the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser which was being used by farmers, and which my CHED management came to inspect its performance in the field, then it cannot be the same Lithovit Fertiliser that COCOBOD supplied to our farmers. I am not a scientist to know the efficacy of a chemical. I can observe and see what an efficient or inefficient chemical is.
Q. You do not have a single official report that you issued on the supposed efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser whiles you were a District Officer. Is that not so?
A. My Lord, just as you said earlier, while at Assin Fosu where the Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser was used, I wasn’t a District Officer. I came back to meet a large quantity in store, and my predecessor said there was a directive from our head office putting a restriction on its usage, and who am I, a common District Cocoa Officer, to write a report to my bosses.
Q. I am putting it to you that, as a whole District Cocoa Officer you do not even have a single official report on the supposed agitations by your farmers, either in Adabokrom or Assin Fosu, on your return against the withdrawal of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser. You have nothing official to show for that.
A. Who am I to write against a decision taken by my employer, therefore, a law abiding employee as I am there was nothing I can report.
Q. I am putting it to you that your testimony before this court on the supposed efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser, and the agitation of farmers for that fertiliser, is not supported by the record at COCOBOD.
A. In COCOBOD’s ordinal report written by CHED management team, they acknowledged the efficacy of Lithoivt Liquid Fertiliser, and they admitted that farmers were showering praises on the chemical, and in my own capacity as a Field Supervisor, I saw its performance. Again, there are a lot of farmers who testified that by using Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser it increases their yield, out of which some of them said they put up their building or bought their personal vehicles.
Q. I am putting it to you that there is no report on the supposed efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser by any particular CHED official.
A. My Lord, I said I chanced to read teh management team report at Adabokrom, and therefore believe that that report would be at the Head Office.
Q. Tell the court who wrote this supposed report.
A. It is a report put down as a report by CHED management team. That is what I know. This CHED management team comprised of the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director – Monitoring and Evaluation, technical officers accompanied by the Regional Managers, and, therefore, I cannot tell which of the members wrote the report.
Q. I am putting it to you that your testimony before this court on the supposed efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser is largely based on what you claim you heard from supposed farmers, and not on what you saw?
A. My Lord, that is not true. Just as I said severally, I was a Field Supervisor at Assin Fosu before promoted to head the district at Adabokrom. At Assin Fosu, I inspected some farms where Lithovit was applied and had my on observations as such my testimony here is not based on only what farmers told me.
Q. And that is why you told the court on Monday in your testimony that you have no records of yield to show for the supposed efficacy of Lithovit Liquid Fertiliser.
A. My Lord, in terms of compiling the yield for the district, it is not CHED’s mandate. This is the responsibility of Quality Control Company (QCC). We only contact them if there is a request by Head Office or any NGO approaches us for it. It is, therefore, not strange that as I sit here I cannot mention any yield records of my district.
The court adjourned re-examination of the witness to yesterday July 7, and the continuation of the evidence of another witness.
