A Ghanaian teacher-turned multiple crops farmer, Samuel Donkor has been sharing some useful tips on growing cinnamon, one of the highly imported spices that is loved by many Ghanaians.
Talking to Enyonam Manye, the host of the Ghanaian Farmer TV Show, he stated that cinnamon is a generational cash crop that needs to be embraced by farmers in Ghana.
“Cinnamon is an aromatic plant which medical and basically people think it’s only an imported plant but can be grown here in Ghana. Essential oil is also extracted from it, which is used by pharmaceuticals,” he said.
Talking about land, Mr Donkor who has four acres of the plant said “The plant needs a lot of water because it has a lot of leaves. It grows well in an area that has more rainfall patterns and forest zone. It is best to plant cinnamon during the rain.”
Just as with other tree crops, “you have to nurse the seed and when it’s about 10 to 15 centimetres, you can transplant it; the nursery takes about 3 weeks to a month to have it ready and it takes about five years and above to have a matured plant ready for harvest,” he revealed.
It is one of the three crops that can be harvested more than once in a year.
“The leaves are harvested for essential oil and the bark of the tree for the cinnamon powder. The leaves are harvested using three months intervals.”
Talking about diseases that affect cinnamon, he mentioned that “caterpillars in particular eat the leaves a lot because of the sweetness but the tree fights back to gain nutrients because it has high foliage.”
Another organic method of fighting insects that prey on the tree is that “it is best to plant citronella as part of inter-cropping in a cinnamon farm. Citronella can be harvested for 10 years. Aside from the financial benefits, the citronella also acts as repellants against insect attacks.”
On the initial capital that one needs to start cinnamon farming, Mr Samuel Donkor said “GHC3,000 is enough to cultivate an acre of cinnamon plant; covering seedling, cost of cultivation, clearing of land and others until the maturity stage. It can be harvested for more than 50 years and the more it grows, the more money you will make.”
