‘Soil Research Institute should commercialise findings’
The Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, has suggested to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Soil Research Institute in Kumasi to commercialise all its research findings to raise the needed funds to remain relevant in the country’s developmental agenda.
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She asked the institute to incorporate marketing into its core function and thereby ensure that apart from their consultations, they also get on to its targeted clients to raise the needed money to change the face of research.
Madam Appiagyei, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asokwa in the Ashanti Region, gave the advice during a familiarisation tour of the institute in Kumasi yesterday.
She said the lack of funding from the government, coupled with the institute’s huge electricity bills and other expenditure, required them to think outside the box and maximise potential.
The institute has begun selling some of its findings on a rather small scale but its key beneficiary, the government, has been reluctant to pay.
However, the deputy minister said it was important for the institute to catalogue all its contributions and achievements so that even if the government refused to pay, it would have reason to demand for an increase in research funding.
Currently, the government has increased the research allowance from 0.38 per cent to one per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Director
The Director of the Soil Research Institute, Dr Joseph O. Fening, said the institute was contributing towards the realisation of the government’s one-district, one-factory policy, as well as the one-village, one-dam project.
He said since the institute had zoned the country’s soils, it was better placed to advise the government on which particular area or soil was suitable for particular projects.
Dr Fening said soil was the most crucial commodity in all developmental issues, especially agriculture and it was important that the institute was consulted on all fronts to prescribe the correct type of soil for particular plants.
In that regard, the institute has begun a series of meetings with the government to prescribe suitable soils for the Planting for Food project.
He expressed concern about the destruction of about 45 to 50 per cent of the country’s soils due to bad practices, including illegal mining, which need to be addressed quickly.
Subsequently, the institute has introduced a number of interventions, including the biochar processes, to improve the quality of soil to increase productivity.
