Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board to run post-graduate degree programmes with a more practical orientation. The CSIR-Crops Research Institute, the largest of the 13 Institutes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research announces an MPhil Plant Breeding and Biotechnology programme in August/September, 2016. More information on the programmes and registration forms can be accessed here: www.cropsresearch.org or www.ccst.edu.gh.
The course is for students wishing to undertake a career in plant breeding and crop biotechnology. The course is relatively new and would be beneficial in producing highly skilled manpower capable of developing plant varieties that show potential in achieving food security in an increasingly harsh climatic condition with attendant socio-economic crisis.
This course is unique in the sense that it will bring biotechnology and breeding to the fore in our effort in crop improvement. The CRI has benefited from a World Bank Facility through the WAAPP which has enabled it build a state-of-the-art Research Facility at CSIR-Crops Research Institute. CSIR-CRI has irrigation facilities for fieldwork, screening houses for controlled experiments and research sub stations in the various agro ecological zones in Ghana for multi-locational trials.
Students will acquire knowledge in the application of advanced crop improvement principles to breed crops adapted to the different agro-ecological zones of the country; analytical methods to assess the stability of crops bred for biotic and abiotic stress conditions; understand genetic variation of tropical crops for genetic hybridization. They will also acquire practical skills for genetic manipulation and plant breeding, selection of appropriate breeding strategies, application of biotechnological tools (molecular and tissue culture) for crop improvement and production, application of molecular markers and their use in gene mapping and crop improvement and be familiar with the respective roles of producers, traders, consumers and governments in setting breeding goals (value chain approach). The student will also acquire knowledge in Crop Physiology and Crop Protection.
Courses will include:
- Advanced Plant Breeding
- Crop Improvement
- Principles and Methodology of Tissue Culture
- Molecular Plant Breeding
- Biometry and Research methods
- Advanced Floral & Reproductive Biology
- Genomics and Bioinformatics
- Climate Change and its Impact on Crop Production
- Principles and Practices of Crop physiology
- Basic and Intermediate Scientific communication in French
- Advanced Plant Pathology/Virology/Nematology
- Advanced Entomology/Weed Science
- Seed Science & Technology
Students must have completed an undergraduate degree in agriculture, biological sciences, horticulture, botany or related field and be proficient in English. Applicants who have not been instructed in English at the undergraduate level must have a test score of at least 550 (paper test) or 213 (computer test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).