Brief History

The Department of Crop Science started in 1961 as the Department of Crop Husbandry and Horticulture with responsibility for the following disciplines: Crop Production, Horticulture, Soil Science, Crop Protection and Weed Science.

In 1982, the Department was split into two full departments, the Department of Crop Science and the Department of Soil Science. Since its inception, the Department of Crop Science has made great strides in the development of agriculture and the food industry in Ghana. Currently the Department offers programmes in Crop Production, Horticulture and Post Harvest Science and Technology.

The Department can pride itself in the breeding of crop varieties including pepper (Legon 18), garden eggs (Legon 1), cowpea (Legon prolific) and sweet potato (Freema) which are widely used by farmers in Ghana.

The department is also pioneering the training of farmers within the University environs and nearby regions in the use of soilless media for vegetable production, thereby facilitating stable and all year round production of quality fresh vegetables for use by the growing cosmopolitan urban and peri- urban population. The added benefit of the technology is the provision of regular income sources and sustainable livelihoods for the urban and peri-urban farmers who are mostly migrants and have challenges with land tenure and credit facilities.