Accra (Greater Accra), 25 Feb. '99 -

Income earned on vegetable exports can surpass that of cocoa in the next 15 years if the government supports the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in its study of vegetable production. Mr Offei-Bonsu, plant breeder, Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR), told newsmen in Accra on Wednesday that most vegetables, which are non-traditional exports, are produced every three months while cocoa takes years to mature. Dr Peter Sallah, a maize breeder of CSIR, said the Crop Research Institute (CRI) had developed several high yielding and disease-resistant maize varieties which have been released to farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture. He said "Dobidi" and "Aburotia" which are sensitive to the maize streak virus have been replaced with "Obatanpa". Dr Sallah said "Obatanpa" has better protein quality due to the increased levels of amino acids. "In Northern Ghana, 60,000 hectares of rice is grown every year using mostly varieties recommended by the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) of the CSIR, formerly Nyankpala Experimental Station. "In addition, varieties of Cowpea, Soyabean, groundnuts, cassava and mango have been improved by CRI''. Dr Sallah said the split-corm Technology, a rapid multiplication method for producing plantain suckers, has been adopted by CRI and transferred to farmers for use. The CSIR has not achieved its utmost over the years due to the late release of inputs and inadequate salaries. Dr Sallah appealed to government to solve the problems confronting CSIR once and for all so that "we can deliver our best to the development of technologies."