By: Hemant Kumar ( Agriculture Correspondent-ICN Group)
Indian tomato varieties are all set to be grown in Ghana, after pilot studies have shown higher yields and better taste.
KANPUR: An Indo-Ghana Pilot research project for Tomato Production, launched in 2015, was declared successfully completed in the third week of June 2017. The research highlights were shared and the two countries agreed to replicate and expand the cultivation of tomatoes.
The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) led the effort, with the Government of Ghana providing three plots of five acres each in different regions of the West African country.
Field trials began in 2015 in Kumasi, ada and Navrongo. “in addition to high yields, the Indian varieties gave better internal qualities and a shelf life of more than two weeks,” according to H Purushotham, CMD, NRDC.
The Indian effort had focussed on sensitising farmers in Ghana with high-yielding varieties and the latest farm techniques that would be compatible with the West African soil. So, cultivation in greenhouses and on open field was taken up using different seeds, fertilizers and irrigation methods.
Ghana imports about 600% of its requirements of tomatoes from the neighboring countries. In May 2010, it made a formal request seeking India’s expertise to take up a research project. That was standing (MoU) in January 2013 between the NRDC and the CSIR, Ghana.
With financial support from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the NRDC took up implementation in 2015 in different agro-climatic regions of Ghana and as part of the Africa Summit in India, the MEA had firmed up the bilateral $ 2 million project.
“At the concluding event of the project in the auditorium of the CSIR-Science & Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI), Ghana, attended by Mavis HawaKoomson, Minister for Special Development Initiatives, BS Yadav, High Commissioner of India, Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR India and scientists and officials from both sides stressed the need for replicating the project on larger areas,” said Purushotham.
