Research
Institute to conduct trials on drought-resistant maize
Manga (U/E), Jan. 15, Ghanadot/GNA - The
Manga Station of the Savanna Agricultural Research
Institute (SARI), near Bawku in the Upper East Region,
would undertake trials on drought-resistant maize
variety and subsequently be made available to farmers
for cultivation.
After successful cropping of the variety in selected
areas of Ghana, it could hold a key to the country's
quest for food security.
Dr. Roger Kanton, a research scientist in charge of
SARI, who announced this in an interview with the GNA at
Manga, said that the variety could withstand harsh
weather conditions, particularly in the Upper West,
Upper East and Northern Regions.
He said “the maize has a relatively shorter maturity
period, making it ideal for equally short spells of rain
the three regions experience yearly.”
Dr. Kanton said the research was originally carried out
by the International Maize and Wheat Research Institute
in Peru in conjunction with the International Institute
for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Nigeria, under the
"Green Revolution for Africa" project, sponsored by the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of the United States.
He said the variety was made available to some selected
African countries including Ghana, Benin, Mali, and
Nigeria.
Dr. Kanton said that in Ghana, SARI and the Crops
Research Institute have decided to carry out trials to
determine the suitability of the variety, particularly
for the northern sector of Ghana where the rainy season
was often short-lived.
He said “Apart from that the agro-processing industry in
the country would be activated to provide employment and
maximize the export of processed agricultural produce to
earn the nation more income".
Dr. Kanton said if care was not taken research
institutions in the country would collapse since
upcoming research scientists might divert into more
fulfilling sectors.
He cited that although SARI was the only body mandated
to conduct research into agricultural peculiarities of
Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Brong Ahafo
Regions, it was at the verge of collapse and was only
surviving on donor support.
Dr. Kanton urged Members of Parliament (MPs) and other
politicians from the three Northern Regions to lobby
government for substantial budgetary allocation to
revive SARI.
He said "The only time the Manga station of SARI saw a
fence was in the 1940s when it was first established as
a research centre by the colonial government. Over the
years the barbed wire fence had disappeared leaving the
premises and its trial gardens at the mercy of livestock
and robbers.”
Dr. Kanton mentioned insufficient water supply, the lack
of means of transport and inadequate number of
scientists at the station as other problems facing SARI.
He said out of five scientists stationed at Manga
initially, he was the only one left at the moment.
Dr. Kanton said to address the problem, he had persuaded
some science students of the country's universities to
come for practical attachment at SARI with the hope that
they would stay on after completion of their studies.
He said that no nation aspiring to develop should
undermine the significance of scientific research and
expressed worry that research had suffered neglect under
successive governments in Ghana.
Dr. Kanton stressed that the vision to move Ghana into
the middle-income bracket would be accelerated if
government supported agricultural research institutions
whose efforts could assist the country to attain food
sufficiency.
GNA
