Consolidated efforts to modernize crop improvement in Ghana

A Regional Coordinated Trial (RCT) is helping Cowpea Improvement Program in Ghana, thanks to Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) and Bayer projects in West Africa. The regional trials involve genetic materials contributed by various research institutes and cross learning experience gleaned from testing and demonstrations.

In Ghana, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) is evaluating 198 genotypes including checks contributed by five institutions from major cowpea producing countries in West Africa. The institute contributed its 20 best genotypes (11 early maturing lines and 9 medium maturing lines) to the trial. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Nigeria contributed 80 genotypes (40 early and 40 medium) and 23 genotypes (10 early and 13 medium) respectively. INERA in Burkina Faso contributed 33 genotypes (19 early and 14 medium), while IER in Mali contributed 28 genotypes (14 early and 14 medium) to the RCT.