ROOTS AND TUBERS DIVISION
Roots and tubers are exceptionally important crops due to their food and nutritional security and income generation attributes.
The R & T Division evolved from the National Roots and Tuber Project, which was a Specialized Commissioned Project of the Government of Ghana. With its Head Office in Fumesua, The R & T Division’s vision is to become a Centre of Excellence for innovative and quality agricultural research on roots and tubers for development. It therefore, aims at developing and disseminating appropriate end-user preferred technologies for higher and sustainable production and utilization of roots and tuber crops both at the national and international levels. The division hosts the CORAF’s Roots and Tubers Regional Center of Excellence at the Institute.
Areas of Specialization
The division specializes in the improvement of cassava, cocoyam, taro, sweetpotato and yam and the dissemination of technologies developed through research on these crops. Specific areas of specialization are;
- Development, release and dissemination of high yielding end-user preferred roots and tuber crop varieties tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses.
- Production of quality-declared planting materials
- Capacity development of stakeholders or actors along roots and tubers value chain
- Enhanced balance between gender in R & T research, technology development, dissemination and capacity development
- Effective monitoring and evaluation system in R & T research, technology development and dissemination
- Effective communication of research results and delivery of technologies to clients
- Project proposal development and submission for research fund
- Development of strategic partnership with corporate and research agencies in Ghana and beyond.
Research Outputs/Technologies
The division has released fifty (50) improved crop varieties as at November 2018. These consist of eighteen (18) cassava varieties, three (3) cocoyam varieties, four (4) taro varieties, eighteen (18) sweetpotato varieties and seven (7) yam varieties. These varieties are higher yielding, highly preferred by end-users and tolerant to major biotic and abiotic stresses. These varieties also have varied domestic uses and applications in industry. The Division has also produced numerous refereed journal articles in reputable journals and many technical reports to development partners, donors, agencies and clients.
Research Interests
- Holistic improvement in cassava, cocoyam, taro, sweetpotato and yam spanning the development of crop varieties acceptable by end-users, and the use of good agricultural practices to ensure high productivity and good quality produce of root and tuber crops.
- Characterization of local root and tuber crops.
- Quantitative variability and expected genetic gain from selection for root and tuber crops
- Exploitation of genetic variability through hybridization and selection aimed at improving earliness to maturity, storage roots/tuber yield, quality traits enhancement and resistance/tolerance to major diseases and pests.
Areas of Collaboration
- Development, release and dissemination of high yielding end-user preferred roots and tuber crop varieties tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses.
- Production of quality-declared planting materials
- Capacity development of stakeholders or actors along roots and tubers value chain
- Effective monitoring and evaluation system in R & T research, technology development and dissemination
- Effective communication of research results and delivery of technologies to clients
- Project proposal development and submission for research fund
The R & T Division is organized into four (4) Technical Units/Programmes each headed by a Head of Programme. The Units/Programmes are the Cassava Improvement Programme, Cocoyam Improvement Programme (Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma sagittifolium), Sweetpotato Improvement Programme, and the Yam Improvement Programme.
