The Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CRI) has introduced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and smart technologies to move seed certification and storage from manual methods to faster, smarter and more efficient systems.

A stakeholders’ workshop brought together seed producers and seed regulators and policymakers to introduce these innovations and discuss their benefits to the seed sector.

Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Hillary Mireku Botey, explained that the country’s cold storage facilities for seeds are limited. He noted that frequent power fluctuations and high electricity costs affect seed viability, leading to germination losses of up to 60 percent.

To address this challenge, the Institute has introduced the AI-Controlled Thermal Block System to improve storage conditions and the quality of seeds.

“The first technology is the AI-Controlled Thermal Block System. This has been installed in the cold room at CRI-Kwadaso Station. The aim is to reduce energy consumption by charging it at an appropriate time to maintain steady temperature over a long time. We know energy cost is very high. We want to reduce the energy consumptions and make the cost of seed storage affordable for seed companies and producers,” he said.

Dr. Mireku Botey also highlighted the smart mobile application developed locally in collaboration with a Brazilian company, Smart Agri. The application currently focuses on soybean and maize.

Instead of manually counting germinated seeds each day, users can take pictures, and the app will calculate the germination percentage and seed vigour, which are important parameters for seed producers and farmers.

He said the technology works 15 times faster than the manual method, improving accuracy and efficiency.

Founder and Managing Director of SeedSure and SporeSmart Demo Stakeholders Meeting, Luke Murrell, emphasised the economic importance of the project and improving cold storage facilities to reduce seed wastage and lower energy use.

“So if we improve cold storage facilities, we don’t have so much wastage of seeds, so that has an economic impact. We also use less energy, so we have systems now that are cleaner, greener types of technologies to provide cold storage. The other side of it is around how we produce varieties of seeds that are more climate-resistant. We have some technology now that we can use to track the germination rates of seeds and start to understand in more detail how do we produce the best seeds, what are the best varieties,” he said.

The Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, David Anamba, also addressed the impact of climate change on farming. He said recent rainfall patterns have changed, with rains occurring in January and February, which is unusual and risky for farmers who plant early.

“As for Climate change, we’re getting rain in January, February, which is unusual. Resilience is what we’re looking at. How do we adapt to climate change so we can get the seed that can be resilient to the drought? Farmers should not rush to plant now. If you plant now, along the line we’ll have drought,” he asserted.

Mr. Anamba further advised farmers to buy seeds only from certified and reliable sources instead of open markets to ensure quality and traceability.

The stakeholders' meeting highlighted the importance of strengthening seed traceability and addressing challenges in the seed sector. The initiative, a collaboration between CSIR-Crops Research Institute in Ghana, Smart Agri in Brazil, and two United Kingdom-based firms, aims to replace manual seed storage practices with advanced technology to improve efficiency and reduce losses.