Govt challenges seed houses

Government has urged seed houses to continue research and innovation to reduce unnecessary costs of production of seed, a senior official has said.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Deputy Minister Vangelis Haritatos said this last week while officiating at the launch of Bayer’ hybrid maize seed varieties.

Bayer, a crop protection products provider, launched the Dekalb maize varieties: DKC 80- 33, DK 777, DKC 90 -89 and DKC 80-53 that are tailor-made for different agronomic regions in Zimbabwe.

The hybrid maize seed varieties are expected to give yields of between eight and 12 tonnes per hectare.
Officiating at the Bayer Dekalb maize seed business launch at ART Farm in Pomona, Deputy Minister Haritatos said seed houses should come up with solution to the major challenges facing farmers which was high seed prices.

“With more players on the market, both wholesale and retail prices are expected to stabilise. Let’s continue innovating to get rid of unnecessary cost of production of seed,” he said.

Dep Min Haritatos said the increase of players and improvement in organisational; structure of the maize seed industry had improved the industry’s performance in terms of accessibility of quality seed by farmers throughout the country.

He however, expressed concern over low yields among most smallholder farmers which is below one tonne per hectare.

“This problem could largely be addressed by access to high yielding maize hybrids among other factors. The more players that join the industry, the more vigorous research and extension input into the final product is expected.

“The entry into the seed space of Zimbabwe by Bayer is expected to further strengthen linkages between seed houses and agricultural research stations both public and private.

We also expect to see more varieties that are easy to grow, climate smart and high yielding. Your (Bayer) coming in is just in time when we are all excited having proceed 2,7 million tonnes of maize this past season,” he said.

Bayer territory manager, Mr Farai Munyanyi said the company had introduced the hybrid varieties to support farmers to sustainably meet food security needs and stable yield performance.

“The maize seed varieties focus on yield stability, drought tolerance, disease resistance and good grain quality.
“Our farmers face many challenges accessing quality and reliable maize seed hybrids they need to produce high yielding harvests that can support their families and communities.-The Herald