Ghana to promote improved crop variety

Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Mustapha Ahmed on Tuesday said despite strides that research has made in developing improved variety of crops it is imperative that genetic diversity is maintained for posterity.

He said yam, sorghum, millet and cowpea are very important as far as food security is concerned not only in Ghana but in the sub region as a whole.

Speaking at a Regional Consultative Workshop on Improving Linkages between Conservation and use of Food Crops in West Africa, he noted that it was for that matter that government attaches great importance to the project.

It is been supported by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, a foundation for food security and was attended by 40 participates from Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Switzerland and Italy.

The ministry, he said has been conducting extensive nationwide consultation on all policies it has been formulating since 2009 aimed at environmental mainstreaming, which encompasses the process by which environmental issues are brought to the attention of policy makers.

Mr Asante Krobea, Director of Crop Services of the Agriculture Ministry said the Ministry’s food security cannot be achieved without application of science and technology on daily basis especially at this time of the country’s development when conservation of biodiversity of crops is threatened with extinction at very high levels.

This, he said is due to population pressure, food production practices, and commercial land use for mining, timber, and climate change among other factors.

The conservation of traditional crop variety such millet, yam, sorghum and cowpea in changing environment is critical to addressing  food security in the sub-region as these yields  depend upon increasing population on daily basis, he said.

“It is the believe of most people that for the world to feed the over growing population and in the face of climate change, it is important to develop innovative actions that will allow food and agriculture to use traditional and new findings to increase productions for consumption and industries”.

One of such ways is to promote linkages between disciplines and adoption of genetic policies for our system, he said.

Source: GNA