Abstract:
The Oil Palm Research Institute (OPRI) was set up in 1964 as a division under the Crop
Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The
Institute began as a Centre and was initially located at Okumaning to co-exist with University of
Ghana Agricultural Research Station (UGARS). The rationale for its establishment was to take
over the functions of the West Africa Institute for Oil Palm Research (WAIFOR) which had been
dissolved. The defunct WAIFOR was responsible for provision of oil palm planting materials
and research support to the Anglophone countries. The Institute re-located to its current location
at Kusi in 1965, gained autonomy from the CSIR-CRI in 1979 and became a fully-fledged
Institute in 1988. In 1992, the OPRI was additionally mandated to carry out research into
coconut in general and Cape St. Paul's Wilt Disease (CSPWD) in particular. Currently, OPRI
carries out sustainable research into oil palm and coconut aimed at generating scientific
information and technological support for the development of the entire oil palm and coconut
industries.
