Dr Roger Kanton, a Deputy Director at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has called on government to invest in agricultural research institutions to boost the economy.
He said agriculture remained the back-bone of every economy, hence the need to equip research institutions in the country with the appropriate resources to be able to deliver on their mandate of providing the best farming methods.
Dr Kanton said this at the Third Annual Ghana Soybean Kick-Off Event at Nyankpala in the Northern Region to showcase the latest advancement in soybean development in Africa. He urged the Government to train more agricultural science students in the second cycle schools to take the mantle of leadership in agricultural research.
Mrs Grace Sebugah, the USAID Food Security Specialist, said USAID would partner government and research institutions to improve soybeans production and its utilisations through the Feed the Future Initiative.
She explained that the Initiative, in the long run, would contribute immensely to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to offer valuable support for the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ Programme by the Government. Dr Peter Goldsmith, the Principal Investigator at the University of Illinois, said the Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Laboratory value chain research programme, had resulted in an overwhelming impact on soybean production, especially in Northern Ghana.
He expressed the hope that the increasing demands for soybean on the market would improve lives and urged farmers to improve their productivity to meet demand. He advised farmers to focus on the use of certified and high quality seeds as well as having a good seed bed and high seed population to get maximum yields.