The Crop Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) in Ashanti Region has developed a new high yielding and drought resistant rice variety called AgraRice, as part of its efforts to increase crop yields and boost production. According to the Municipal Development Officer at the Department of Agriculture, the new variety will help farmers to increase their production because of its high yield. The Municipal Development Officer added that, AgraRice is particularly resistant to rice black disease. Moreover, the new variety tastes better than regular rice varieties, can yield up to 8 metric tones per hectare compared to average production rate of around 2.5 thus help raise farmer’s standard of living. According to CRIG’s rice breeder, with a yield difference of about 5 tones per hectare, the new varieties have a great potential to bridge the gap between local production and importation. Furthermore, CRIG’s rice breeder indicated that lack of investment in the rice industry over years has translated into inadequate supply of required machines (tractors, power-tillers, threshers, dryers and modern milling equipment). Scarce entrepreneurs focusing on marketing locally-produced rice coupled with poor processing by farmers has also compounded industry’s woes. Farmers were urged to maintain the quality of grains at harvest by milling with modern machines to avoid poor appearance and improving marketing (bagging, branding and advertising) to make domestic rice more competitive. Ghana imports over half of its annual rice consumption demand but, the government in alignment line with the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) is planning to increase rice production by about 20% per annum and enhance quality production over the next four years to make Ghana self sufficient in rice.

http://reap.com.pk/news/news_detail.asp?newsid=3045
http://www.fao.org/3/a-at546e.pdf