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June 30, 2022
CSIR Latest News (107)
BY: Nana Yaw Reuben
A research scientist has called for the adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops to help reduce the cost of production incurred by farmers in the country and ensure food security.
Dr. Jerry Nboyine, Principal Investigator, Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea project at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), who made the call, said embracing GM crops would reduce the cost of production and also protect the health of farmers as there would be less dependence on chemicals to deal with pests.
Source: GNA
The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has trained 110 farmers in Asesewa in the Upper Manya Krobo District to combat cassava viral infections.
The training dubbed, "Together let’s save our cassava," also featured agriculture extension officers who were taught on the impacts of cassava mosaic virus disease, which has proven to be transmitted by whiteflies and cuttings.
The seriousness of the virus disease and its adverse impact on food security and nutrition moved the CRI to step in and assist local farmers to be able to manage it properly and shore up cassava production.
New Director-General for CSIR
May 18, 2022
BY: Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has inducted into office a new Director-General, Professor Paul Pinnock Bosu, at a ceremony in Accra.
The event which was the 7th induction of the Director-General of the CSIR was attended by some past Director-Generals of the Council, directors of the 13 Research Institutes under the council, civil society organisations and other personalities.
Delivering his inaugural address last Friday, Prof Bosu said said about 800 acres of land that belongs to the CSIR Animal Research Institute (ARI) at Frafraha has been encroached on with 200 acres left for the institute.
He therefore appealed to the government to help recover and protect their lands across every part of the country.
Land guards threaten CSIR staff
May 18, 2022
BY: Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu
Workers of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research Animal Research Institute (CSIR-ARI) say they are living in fear as a result of threats from land guards supposedly rented by some private developers who are said to have illegally acquired portions of the land of the institute.
The Director-General of the CSIR, Professor Paul P. Bosu, made the disclosure in Accra yesterday when he led a team from the institute to inspect some of the lands acquired by the state at Frafraha in Accra for the purposes of animal research decades ago.
Press statement on the need for Government to prioritize Science and Technology in 2022
March 15, 2022
By: Alliance for Science Ghana
As 2022 progresses, the team Alliance for Science Ghana extends happy new year wishes to all Ghanaians. 2021 was a difficult “food year” for many. Food prices rose so quickly in ways this nation hadn’t seen in a long time.
Data from the Statistics, Research and Information Directorate of the Ministry for Food and Agriculture (MOFA) did put this concern in perspective.
Between January and October 2021, the average price of maize rose by 56%, the price of plantain rose by 74%, the price of tomato rose by 44%, the price of yam rose by 20%, and the price of fresh pepper rose by 54%.
By: Ghana Web
New Coronavirus variants detected across the world OMICRON cases detected in Ghana
Govt urged to invest in innovations for wealth-creation
As more and more new variants of the novel Coronavirus are discovered across the world, with reported cases of the pandemic too on the ascendency, a Ghanaian nano-scientist has invented an innovative way of detecting the virus, and categorising them.
The virus tracking device by Dr. Eric Ashalley, who works with the Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), brings testing diagnosis to the doorstep of everyone, reports asaaseradio.com.
“The device can categorise and detect virus. When it comes to the COVID-19 viruses, it can tell you which variant one is infected with,” he told Asaase Radio in an interview.
By: Ghana Web
Ghana is progressing steadily with the introduction of Genetically Modified Cowpea. Known locally as beans, scientists at the Agricultural Research Institute at Nyankpala in the Savannah Region, have completed work on a technology to address the huge pest infestation of the crop.
A dossier to that effect has been gazetted by the National Biosafety Authority. The document contains a request by the Researchers to environmentally release and market the beans.
Farmers in Bongo-Nyariga introduce two new rice varieties
March 15, 2022
By GNA
Two new early maturing and climate-smart rice varieties have been introduced to rice farmers at Nyariga, a community in the Bongo District of the Upper East region.
The AGRA and Banse rice varieties are high-yielding and pest tolerant.
The farmers were also introduced to the best agronomic practices, including seed selection, transplanting, fertilizer application, pest control, and harvesting, among others.
The Savannah Agriculture Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRSARI) developed and released the varieties as part of the implementation of the Integrated Pest Management Using Rice Varieties and Good Agronomic Practices project.
By Albert Oppong-Ansah
A total of 249,373 hectares of forest reserves and plantations, equivalent to over 600,000 average football pitches, were lost to bush fires between 2011 and 2021, data from the Forestry Commission has indicated.
The fires occurred mainly in Savannah and the transitional zones, which include areas in Sunyani, Juaso, Lawura, Yendi, parts of Upper East, Walewale, Bibiani, Buipe, Begro, Mpraeso, Goaso, and Bole districts.
Scientists said the annual bush fires posed serious threat to the food security of the country if comprehensive steps were not taken to deal with them.
By: Daniel Oduro-Stewart, Contributor
The Bono East regional directorate of the Department of Agriculture in collaboration with the Crop Research Institute( CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research( CSIR) has organized a 2-day training of trainers’ workshop for 16 extension officers on disease and pest management in garden eggs, cabbage, pepper, groundnuts, cowpea and soybean in Atebubu.
The exercise which was under the ‘Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana’ program covered all eleven districts in the region and had one groundnut farmer, one garden eggs producer, and the crops officer for the host district also participating.
More...
By Joseph Opoku Gakpo
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has submitted an application to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) requesting for permission to release Ghana’s first GMO crop (PRB cowpea) into the environment.
The request to the NBA which is a government agency under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology will allow for the CSIR to also place the pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea or beans on the Ghanaian market.
According to a public notice published in the Ghana Gazette on 18th February 2022, the application is currently undergoing a review process by the NBA, together with relevant regulatory agencies and independent experts.
Ghana: CSIR Governing Board Tasked to Strengthen Collaborations With Government Agencies
February 03, 2022
By Bernard Benghan
The Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Dr Kwaku Afriyie, last Friday inaugurated a 21-member governing board of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra.
The Board chaired by the government nominee, Prof. Robert Kingsford Adaboh, was tasked to strengthen collaborations with other government agencies that were also doing well in the area of science and technological research in the country.
Dr Afriyie after administering the oath of office and secrecy, said, CSIR was the backbone of the country's scientific research mandated to carry out scientific and technological research for national development.
He said the government's flagship agricultural campaign, the Planting for Food and Jobs, under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), was able to produce more grains which was fashioned from the laboratory of CSIR.
Is Pozzolana cement one of the answers to Ghana’s housing deficit?
February 03, 2022
By: Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
There is a dire housing situation that is akin to a pandemic in Ghana. That’s not in question. Particularly, the situation in urban areas is severe. According to Ghana government estimates, in 2015, population growth would likely add two million extra-urban households in Ghana by 2020. It also assessed the housing shortage before the outbreak of COVID-19 at more than two million units, and approximately 60% of the working population need help to access housing, while 35% will not be in a position to access housing even with intended government subsidy.
A recently published report by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shows that about two out of five of the population of Ghana live in slums. It notes that as of 2017, the proportion of the population living in slums stood at 39.3%, with the figure slightly dropping to 39.2% in 2018, and further declining marginally to 38.9% in 2019.
Farmers double revenue with improved cassava cultivation
February 03, 2022
Farmers in four districts of the Volta Region have doubled their revenue and increased productivity by 61% from the cultivation of improved cassava in three years, a study has revealed.
Each of 187 farmers in the districts of Ho West, Adaklu, Central Tongu, and Ho Municipal who had adopted the improved cassava variety under the “Modernising Agriculture in Ghana project” (MAG), increased their revenue from GH5,040 in 2017 to 10,662 in 2020 averagely.
The study was conducted by the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and disclosed in a MAG dissemination workshop held on December 21, in Accra.
Meanwhile, the non-adopters on average had increased revenue from GH 3,405 in 2017 to 4,702 in 2020.
The MAG project was a five-year initiative introduced in 2017 to provide budgetary and technical support in response to the objectives of food and agricultural sector development policies, productivity, and value chain management issues to increase farmers’ incomes and livelihoods.
eNews / Discovery
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