By Albert Futukpor
Nyankpala (N/R), Oct. 18, GNA – Key stakeholders in the agricultural sector in the Northern Region have attended the Maize Product Design Team meeting to review and refine maize product profiles to ensure they better reflect market demands and farmer preferences.
The meeting, held at Nyankpala, near Tamale, formed part of the Genetic Innovation: Accelerated Breeding Initiative (ABI)-Meeting Farmers’ Needs with Nutritious, Climate-Resilient Crops project, which has CGIAR as its prime sponsor.
It was organised by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Participants included breeders, farmers, processors, seed companies, and extension agents.
Dr Francis Kusi, Director, CSIR-SARI, speaking during the meeting, said the recent dry spell had shown the resilience of CSIR-SARI’s maize varieties to drought.
Dr Kusi urged participants to come up with a product profile that would address emerging constraints to successful production of maize in the country.
The meeting highlighted the need for breeders to prioritise traits that met both market and farmer requirements.
A discussion on target product profiles led to a clearer understanding of the traits most valued by farmers, which included drought tolerance, yield, and sensory qualities important for local processing and consumption.
One of the core outcomes of the meeting was the definition of maize market segments tailored to the county’s unique agroecological conditions.
Participants worked together to identify segments based on factors such as maturity, usage, and geographical considerations, ensuring that future maize varieties would be well-suited to local farming conditions and market demands.
The meeting also finalised several target product profiles for maize including detailed descriptions of the traits required in successful varieties for each market segment, which served as roadmaps for breeding programmes.
Mr Charles Tia, Chief Executive Officer of B-Diet, a food processor, who was a participant, said he was happy about the inclusion of major stakeholders in the meeting
He said it ensured that the needs and traits of customers in both urban and rural areas were well addressed.
GNA