New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) India and Ghana have taken a significant step towards strengthening agricultural cooperation with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Ghana’s Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), it was announced on Wednesday.
The agreement aims to promote joint research, technology transfer, capacity building and commercialisation of agricultural innovations, reinforcing India’s commitment to South-South and India-Africa collaboration.
The MoU was signed in the presence of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Ghana’s Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The five-year agreement establishes a framework for closer collaboration in agricultural science, education and technological exchange between the two countries.
As part of the partnership, the institutions will undertake joint research projects, facilitate the exchange of scientists and technical experts, and share scientific information, research methodologies and breeding materials.
The collaboration will also encourage institutional linkages between agricultural research centres in India and Ghana to promote long-term scientific engagement.
The first phase of the initiative will focus on vegetable crop research, particularly tomatoes. Under the arrangement, ICAR will support the introduction of suitable high-yielding tomato varieties and help scale up proven agricultural technologies to strengthen domestic tomato production in Ghana.
Beyond vegetables, the partnership will seek to enhance value addition and processing of cassava, yam and other tuber crops. The two sides will work on strengthening agricultural value chains through the adoption of advanced technologies and improved farming practices.
Post-harvest management has also been identified as a key area of cooperation. The collaboration will provide technical support and capacity-building initiatives in areas such as cold storage, refrigerated transportation, sorting, grading and food processing technologies. These measures are expected to help reduce post-harvest losses and improve farm incomes.
Arima Farms Ltd. of Ghana has been recognised as the commercial partner to CSIR-CRI for specific research and commercialisation activities under the agreement, helping bridge the gap between agricultural research and market adoption.
Implementation of the MoU will be overseen by a Joint Working Group comprising representatives from ICAR and CSIR-CRI. The group will periodically meet in New Delhi and Accra to review progress and guide future activities under the partnership.
–IANS
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