Ghana Seed Partnership Commences Seed Variety Trials

Following the official launch of the Ghana Seed Partnership in October, some exciting work has been going to ensure availability and access to high quality seeds. In furtherance of this, two of the project partners, IWAD and Bakker Brothers, working together have established breeding and pre-selection stations at Dipale and Yagaba in the Northern Region of Ghana.

The establishment of the stations involved soil testing, fencing, land preparation and irrigation design, assuring a disease-free area in – and around – the test stations. The companies are testing 4 onion, 2 tomato and 2 carrot varieties at Yagaba and Dipale stations. The variety trials are focused on enhancing traits such as yield potential, disease resistance, shelf life, transportability and colour appeal.  In addition, 5 Local Standard varieties were introduced to serve as checks during the production evaluation trial. 

Tomato trials are being performed in close collaboration with the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI). IWAD and SARI have a longstanding working relationship on seed production, further enhancing the public-private partnership (PPP) approach which is a cardinal feature of the Ghana Seed Partnership. IWAD and Bakker Brothers will also facilitate farm field visits for students of the Damongo College, to promote practical learning experiences for the students. It is anticipated that ultimately, 40 students from the college will be educated on the establishment and running of variety trials under this arrangement.  

Nursery set up.

Seedlings ready for transplanting.