Dr Isaac Danso is the Director and Principal Research Scientist at CSIR‑OPRI
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Oil Palm Research Institute (CSIR‑OPRI) has welcomed the government’s plan to develop 100,000 hectares of oil‑palm plantations as part of the 2026 budget adjustments.
In a media briefing, Dr Isaac Danso, Director and Principal Research Scientist at CSIR‑OPRI, outlined the institute’s rationale, the challenges facing the sector, and the role it can play in turning the ambitious target into reality.
He explained that the commendation is rooted in four strategic objectives: reducing the economy’s reliance on cocoa, gold and timber exports; diversifying national revenue sources; creating new growth pillars; and integrating rural communities into the broader economy.
“These goals align directly with the country’s development agenda,” he said.
Despite the optimism, the institute acknowledged several obstacles that could hinder the programme.
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These include the widespread use of uncertified planting material that reduces yields, poor agronomic practices among growers, limited processing capacity and low technology adoption, lack of accessible credit facilities for farmers and investors, inadequate funding and logistics for CSIR‑OPRI to undertake further research, and low value‑addition, with most producers exporting crude palm oil without further processing.
To support the government’s 100,000‑hectare target, CSIR‑OPRI has outlined a concrete plan.
The institute is capable of supplying improved high‑yielding hybrid planting material, producing about one million hybrid seedlings per year, each with a yield potential of 25 tonnes per hectare annually and an early‑maturing period of 2.5 years.
Through its subsidiary Ghana Sumatra Ltd., it can generate roughly 12 million pre‑germinated seed‑nuts annually.
In total, the project will require 15 million planting materials, all of which can be sourced locally from CSIR‑OPRI at Kusi in the Eastern Region.
Beyond seed supply, the institute will provide technical back‑stopping to accredited industrial nursery operators, assist with site selection, farmer training, and agronomic advisory services, and support the formation of farmer associations.
It also plans to deliver capacity‑building programmes to develop manpower for production and value‑addition, including training Ministry of Food and Agriculture staff on technology adoption.
Additionally, CSIR‑OPRI will conduct feasibility studies to guide potential oil‑palm investors.
The institute has also made recommendations to government to maximise the chances of success.
It suggests prioritising nucleus‑estate development to cover about 90 percent of the 100,000 hectares, with the remaining 10 percent allocated to smallholder schemes, following the Indonesian and Malaysian models.
It further advises that investors should be required to source all certified seed‑nuts from Ghana to boost the domestic economy, and that the climate‑suitability map already produced by CSIR‑OPRI should be used as a guide for investor entry.
Strict regulatory compliance throughout the value chain, it added, will be essential.
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