The Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Prof. Paul Bosu Pinnock is encouraging active usage of technologies developed by the Council.

He was worried some important technologies remain underutilised.

“It is good to show technologies, it is good to let the public and practitioners see that technologies are available.

“But technologies, once they have been developed and displayed, have to be deployed and so I want to call on our scientists, management and coordinators so that technologies that are going to be displayed today should move from the display panels to the farmers field,” he said.

He said this at the planning workshop and open day of CORAF Technology Park.

The West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development is an organization aimed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of small-scale producers and to promote the agribusiness sector.

This year’s program aims at increasing the resilience of food systems in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo, Ghana, Chad, Sierra Leone, Senegal and other countries through investments in regional risk management.

Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr. Yaw Frimpong Addo explained that the ministry has collaborated with local and international institutions to provide useful technologies for farmers.

“It is worth noting that the ministry has worked with relevant partners including agricultural research institutions at the international, regional and international levels to generate and disseminate technologies to the benefit of our farmers,” he said.

He also mentioned the intentions of the ministry to expand the vision for the planting for food and jobs (PFJ) phase II.

“The PFJ phase II seeks to shift from direct input subsidy to a smart agricultural input credit system, linked to structured market arrangements.

“The programme will be implemented over a period of five years and will adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to increase the availability and access to improved inputs, mechanization and extension services as well as output markets,” he said.

Director of the Crops Research Institute, Prof. Moses Branford Mochiah believes that the event will bring out solutions for problems that are faced in the roots and tubers value chain.

“At the end of the planning sessions a common understanding of research advances and challenges occurring in the Roots and Tubers value chain, research teams and regional research and development action plans on the value chains of roots and tubers will be developed,” he said.