Ghana’s tomato imports alone exceed US$230 million annually, while a disease-driven collapse of ginger has left the country 99 per cent import-dependent, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) researchers have said, urging a research-led recovery. Fresh tomato imports, mainly from Burkina Faso, were estimated at 100,000 to 120,000 metric tonnes annually, costing about US$18 million, while processed tomato imports, largely from China and Europe, were equivalent to 400,000 to 450,000 metric tonnes of raw tomato and cost about US$150 million. Dr Osei stated that combined tomato imports exceeded US$230 million a year yet still filled only about 40 per cent of the country’s tomato shortfall. More than 60 per cent of fresh tomato imports enter Ghana during the dry season, between November and April, when local supply falls sharply, he said. The SARI, he stated, was breeding tomato varieties for both rainfed and dry-season ecologies, with promising lines undergoing validation and multi-location trials.