Crops Research Institute

History.
CSIR - Crops Research Institute (CRI) is one of the thirteen (13) research Institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana (CSIR). CSIR-CRI evolved from the Specialists' branch of the Gold Coast Department of Agriculture. In 1959, the Specialists' branch and the Soil and Land Use Survey Department were merged to form the Scientific Services Division of the then Ministry of Agriculture (MOFA). The Scientific Services Division was transferred to the National Research Council in 1962 and then to the Ghana Academy of Sciences in 1963 and renamed the Agriculture Research Institute (ARI). In October 1963, the Ghana Academy of Sciences reorganized the ARI into two units - Crops Research Unit (CRU) and Soil Research Unit. In 1964, the CRU became a full-fledged Institute and was named the Crops Research Institute (CRI). When the Academy of Sciences was reorganized in 1968 into the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), CRI became one of its Institutes. It was renamed CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) in 2006.
Vision.
To become a Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Research, Innovation and Capacity Building for Development.
Mission.
Develop and disseminate environmentally sound technologies and build capacity for sustainable food and industrial crop productivity to enhance livelihoods.
Mandate.
CSIR-CRI is Mandated to research covering the following food and industrial crops:
Research Programmes.
Current research programmes seek to improve on the yields of the mandate food crops as well as their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, make them adaptable to climate change and suitable for various end-user needs.
Other areas of research focus are Resource and Crop Management, Seed Technology, Plant Health (comprising Plant Pathology, Virology, Nematology, Entomology, Biological Control and Weed Science) and Post-harvest.
The objectives are to develop improved crop varieties, high quality planting materials and sustainable, environmentally-friendly and good production practices, that can be easily adopted by farmers to increase their productivity and also to reduce post-harvest losses. Socio-economic research is also conducted to assess the circumstances of farmers and processors, measure the adoption rates of the Institute's technologies, by the various clients as well as the impact of these technologies and make recommendations. These core programmes are supported by Biometrics, Information Communication Technologies and Technology Transfer activities.
Research Facilities.
CSIR-CRI has its head office at Fumesua (near Kumasi). Facilities available for research activities include: