**8.1 Genetic improvement**

Crop genetic improvement target is by using diversity collections to identify new genes and gene combinations that can be introduced into crops, in a natural way using conventional breeding techniques without using Genetic Modification. It aims at increasing the frequency of desirable genes and decreasing the frequency of undesirable genes in a human perspective. Vegetables are a key component of every meal in Ghanaian and significantly contribute to improving the livelihood of its growers. In spite of the significance of vegetables in Ghana, past breeding programs have been disorganized and few developments of new varieties that meet the needs of consumers as well as environmental stresses have been done. Also, there has been advancement in a few vegetables such as tomatoes, garden eggs, Okra, and peppers. Generally, there are advances in areas of vegetable production constraints in Ghana, which mainly focused on the collection, evaluation, and screening of germplasm against biotic and abiotic stresses as well as morphological and agronomic characterization. The established variability and the outcomes of the evaluations against the various biotic and abiotic stresses have not been fully utilized in the development of new varieties.
