Matilda Ntowa Bissah
Ghana 2018
Matilda Ntowa Bissah wants to use her training in plant breeding to help solve the challenges that smallholder farmers face. Raised by two teachers in rural Ghana, she was encouraged by her father to take science courses in secondary school. Growing up, she noticed that her extended family members would get fluctuating yields from cocoa farming. “I knew that one day I would pursue studies that would alleviate these challenges,” Bissah states.
I assisted in establishing a lab for this large-scale farmer who benefited by supplying the variety to the West African region,” she says. Prior to her intervention, farmers were incurring high costs to import planting materials.
Field of Research
Bissah is conducting research to address the high levels of sub-soil salinity found particularly in rice farming. Increased concentration of salt in the soil interferes with normal crop development, resulting in yield losses. Her research is geared toward improving rice tolerance to salt-stress during the reproductive stage.

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