The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has announced the appointment of Professor Maxwell Darko Asante, a Chief Research Scientist, as the new Director of the Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI), Ghana’s foremost agricultural research institute.
Prof. Asante, an esteemed research scientist with over two decades of experience in agricultural research and development, assumes the role effective February 1, 2025.
He succeeds the late Prof. Moses Brandford Mochiah, who served as Director from July 2019 to July 2024.
As the Rice Breeding Lead at CSIR-CRI, Prof. Asante has been instrumental in developing and releasing over twenty (20) climate-resilient rice varieties that have been widely adopted by farmers across Ghana.
He has dedicated his career to achieving rice self-sufficiency and enhancing food security in Ghana.
His research has contributed to increasing agricultural productivity and improved the livelihoods of rice farmers in Ghana.
Prof. Asante’s current research focuses on developing high-yielding, climate-smart rice varieties, tolerant to major biotic and abiotic stresses, utilizing conventional, DNA marker-assisted, and biotechnology approaches.
He led the breeding modernization effort at CSIR-CRI and consulted for the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) programme, now known as Breeding and Research Services in 2021, to modernize breeding programs in Ghana and other African countries.
He has also consulted for AGRA and GIZ-MOVE.
Before his appointment, Prof. Asante served as the Deputy Director of the CSIR-CRI from January 2022 to February 2024 and the Head of the Institute’s Cereals Improvement Programme from 2017 to 2019.
He is widely recognized for his leadership in rice breeding across Africa.
Prof. Asante’s outstanding contributions have earned him numerous accolades including National Best Agricultural Scientist at the 34th National Farmers Day in 2018, best research scientist at the CSIR-CRI in 2017 and was awarded the most influential WACCI Alumnus in 2023.
Additionally, his rice breeding team won the Best Rice Breeding Program Award by KAFACI in 2023.
Prof. Asante holds academic affiliations as an Associate Professor in Plant Breeding and Genetics at the CSIR College of Science and Technology (CCST), Kumasi, Ghana.
He is a Guest Lecturer at the Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and an Associate Faculty at the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana, Legon.
The appointment comes at a critical time when Ghana’s agricultural sector is grappling with challenges such as climate change, soil degradation, and post-harvest losses.
Under Prof. Asante’s leadership, CSIR-CRI is expected to play a pivotal role in developing innovative solutions to these issues.
His expertise positions him well to lead the institute in addressing these challenges in collaboration with the Ghanaian government, the private sector, stakeholders in Ghana as well as international partners.
Source: GNA
