Crops Research Institute

Brief History

CSIR - Crops Research Institute (CRI) is one of the thirteen (13) research Institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana (CSIR). CSIR-CRI evolved from the Specialists' branch of the Gold Coast Department of Agriculture. In 1959, the Specialists' branch and the Soil and Land Use Survey Department were merged to form the Scientific Services Division of the then Ministry of Agriculture (MOFA). The Scientific Services Division was transferred to the National Research Council in 1962 and then to the Ghana Academy of Sciences in 1963 and renamed the Agriculture Research Institute (ARI). In October 1963, the Ghana Academy of Sciences reorganized the ARI into two units - Crops Research Unit (CRU) and Soil Research Unit. In 1964, the CRU became a full-fledged Institute and was named the Crops Research Institute (CRI). When the Academy of Sciences was reorganized in 1968 into the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), CRI became one of its Institutes. It was renamed CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) in 2006.

Vision

To become a Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Research, Innovation and Capacity Building for Development.

Mission

Develop and disseminate environmentally sound technologies and build capacity for sustainable food and industrial crop productivity to enhance livelihoods.

Mandate

CSIR-CRI is Mandated to research covering the following food and industrial crops:

• Cereals (Maize and Rice)
• Legumes and Oil seeds (Cowpea, Soyabean, Groundnut and Bambara Groundnut)
• Roots and Tubers (Cassava, Yam, Sweetpotato, Cocoyam and Taro)
• Horticultural Crops:

 -Plantain and Banana

 -Tropical Fruits (Citrus, Mango, Avocado Pear, Pineapple, Cashew and Pawpaw)

 -Vegetables (Pepper, Garden Eggs, Tomato, Onion and Leafy Vegetables)

• Industrial Crops (Rubber, Sugar Cane, Bast Fibres and Tobacco)

Research Programmes

Current research programmes seek to improve on the yields of the mandate food crops as well as their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, make them adaptable to climate change and suitable for various end-user needs.
Other areas of research focus are Resource and Crop Management, Seed Technology, Plant Health (comprising Plant Pathology, Virology, Nematology, Entomology, Biological Control and Weed Science) and Post-harvest.
The objectives are to develop improved crop varieties, high quality planting materials and sustainable, environmentally-friendly and good production practices, that can be easily adopted by farmers to increase their productivity and also to reduce post-harvest losses. Socio-ecomomic research is also conducted to assess the circumstances of farmers and processors, measure the adoption rates of the Institute's technologies, by the various clients as well as the impact of these technologies and make recommendations. These core programmes are supported by Biometrics, Information Communication Technologies and Technology Transfer activities.

Research Facilities

CSIR-CRI has its head office at Fumesua (near Kumasi). Facilities available for research activities include:

1. Outstations in the various agro-ecological zones where research findings / new technologies are tested before they are recommended to farmers. These outstations are located in: Pokuase, Ohawu (coastal savannah), Akumadan, Assin Fosu, Aiyinase (forest Zone) Ejura and Kpeve (Forest-Savannah).
2. Irrigation facilities for all year round field work
3. Modern biotechnology laboratory (where students and researchers do their analyses)
4. Modern automatic HOBO 30 weather equipment to collect climatic data
5. Seed processing centre to help seed producers to produce high quality seeds
6. Conference room and Training facilities where training programmes in improved agricultural practices are organized for farmers, extension and research workers
7. New Infrared Reflectance Spectrometry (NIRS) equipment. The NIRS (FOSS XDS) is set to routinely measure sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, starch, protein, zinc, calcium, magnesium and iron contents in roots, tubers and other crops. It can also be set to measure β-carotene content.
8. Screen houses where experiments are conducted under controlled conditions.

References