The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been accredited to run
post-graduate programmes in science education.
The Institute has over the years produced crop
varieties and generated technologies to support Ghana’s food production and
economic development.
Through its research and agricultural extension, the CSIR-CRI
has also passed on knowledge and skills to farmers and educational
institutions.
“We believe that by coming up with a graduate school,
we’ll be able to target the next generation and build capacity in these new
areas of science, so that we can ensure that science knowledge is passed on for
posterity,” said Dr. Stella Ennin, Director of the CSIR-CRI.
She says the graduate school will take off with a Plant
Breeding and Biotechnology programme to empower young scientists and researchers
with theoretical and practical training.
“We have combined modern breeding technologies with
conventional breeding and they are going to have this package together,” she
noted.
The Crops Research Institute is the largest of the 13 institutes
under the CSIR.
Students from tertiary institutions already use the
CSIR-CRI laboratories and library for their research and also access improved
crop varieties for academic work.
Over 100 students from the universities and
polytechnics undertake industrial attachments at the CRI every year, whilst scientists
from the Institute are also engaged as part-time lecturers in universities and supervise
projects of students.
Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh
No comments:
Post a Comment