Tanzanian seed company holds field days to popularize drought tolerant maize varieties
Yield is one of the key things farmers consider when deciding what seed to buy. Farmers in Arusha, Tanzania shared this fact during a field day held by Suba Agro Trading & Engineering Company. The seed company held two field days in June in Arusha and Moshi to give farmers the chance to examine new drought tolerant maize hybrids, TZH536 and TZH538, in the field.
Farmers often get information on what variety to plant based on what they observe doing well in fields in their locale, the advice they receive from other farmers, and the information they receive from the agrovets they buy seed from. About 30 farmers drawn from the Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Moshi districts attended the Moshi field day, as well as local agricultural extension workers and civic leaders from the area. The meeting was held just in front of the field by the roadside, so as the discussions were going on, farmers were able to see the maize being referred to. The maize was labeled and Suba Agro field staff also cut some plants and exposed the cobs for the farmers to see their yield potential.
In Arusha, the field day was held on a Saturday which was market day. Many people popped in to learn about the new maize varieties before returning to the market to buy or sell wares. âComparing what I see on this [demonstration] field with what is on the neighboring plot, I can see it is drought tolerant,â said Mariamu Hemedi, a local farmer. âWe can see that it has not been wateredâthere is no tap or well here but the maize has thrived. Now we want to know how it is when it is shelled,â Hemedi added. As participants walked through the field examining the cobs, Sarah Muya, an administrator and assistant to the managing director at Suba Agro encouraged them to taste the grains from the green cobs. âIt has a good taste,â she said while offering a cob to taste.
Farmers identified the double cobbing in TZH538 as a key feature they liked because it demonstrated they would get higher yields. âWhen farmers get good yields, it contributes to development as the extra money gained from selling surplus grain contributes to other development initiatives,â said Eliahidi Mvambi, another farmer. W. S. Chonya, the companyâs product development manager, told farmers to buy seed early to be prepared for the rain. Muya advised farmers to ensure they buy certified seed and keep receipts of all their seed purchases to enable them trace the source of âbadâ seed. âTake up farming as a business,â Muya said, advising farmers to invest in inputs such as improved seed and fertilizer.
Rose E. Moshi, the ward agricultural extension officer, spoke at the event and urged the seed company to ensure the new seed varieties were distributed in the area before the start of the planting season. âSometimes farmers identify good seed but when they go to the shops, it is unavailable,â Moshi said. She also spoke on the importance of seed purity, citing it as one of the key challenges farmers face. Chonya then explained the features on Suba Agro seed packets to the farmers, highlighting the quality of the paper and the Tanzanian flag at the top of the pack to help farmers identify and avoid counterfeit seed. âNow that you have seen how this seed performs in a farmerâs field, we request you to be our ambassadors in your villages,â Chonya said. The company is in the process of multiplying the seed for these varieties in preparation for the next planting season. The company also participated in agricultural shows in August in Arusha, Mbeya and Morogoro to give more farmers information about its products.
To achieve food security, smallholder farmers in Southern Africa require access to improved seed and inputs for higher yields. âSeed is one of the key movers in agricultural development,â says John MacRobert, New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA) leader, indicating the importance of going beyond developing improved seed varieties to encompass their dissemination, promotion, and adoption in developing strategies around seed development. These issues, together with NSIMAâs to date progress (the project is in its third phase) and strategies for the next phase, were discussed at a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, during 7-9 August 2013. About 50 participants from institutions collaborating on the project led by CIMMYT and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (
But do smallholder farmers have access to the new seeds, technologies, and information? The answer is often no. âIntegrating stress tolerant maize and legumes, such as pigeon peas, beans, and cowpeas, leads to sustainable production systems. We need effective seed road maps to enhance access and availability of improved maize and legume seeds,â CIMMYT regional director for Southern Africa Mulugetta Mekuria said, giving an example of one such gap in the system.
âPrivate sector players steer away from smallholders viewing them as high risk because of their poor infrastructure, lack of credit, and land tenure, while governments may not view them as a viable investment,â Jenrich summarized the lack of interest in smallholdersâ problems. Zaka Superseeds proves them wrong; cooperating with smallholders can, in fact, be beneficial for seed companies, as they can work more closely with the community consuming their seed. Zaka, for example, is removing a product from its selection after consultations with the community during which they found out the discussed maize variety has a long maturity period and is thus undesirable.
âMaize production is likely to suffer the most due to climate change compared to other crops in Southern Africa,â said CIMMYT physiologist Jill Cairns, who presented on CIMMYT work under the 
âThe trip was an eye opener for me. We have no mass rearing facility in Ethiopia; neither do we practice artificial infestation of stem borers. We only undertake natural infestation for our trials, which does not give uniform infestation, leading us to wrong conclusions,â said Midekssa Ardessa from Bako Agricultural Research Center at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), who visited CIMMYT-Kenya during 21-27 July 2013 with a team of scientists from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Mozambique, to gain hands-on experience in breeding insect-resistant maize. âWe are now very knowledgeable on mass rearing of stem borers and on running an insectary after our visit and practical sessions at the CIMMYT Katumani Insectary,â added Abiy Dibaba from EIARâs Melkasa Agricultural Research Center. âAt the CIMMYT Kiboko Postharvest Lab, we learned a lot about maize weevils and the larger grain borer, and how to screen maize for resistance against these postharvest pests.â
The annual IRMA projectâs program has trained more than 50 scientists since its inception in 2009. âMost of us talk very easily and confidently about insect rearing. However, it is quite a challenge when we engage in the practical aspects,â said Tefera. âWhat we have exposed you to is just a tip of the iceberg in the business of mass rearing of insects. There is still a lot to learn, much of it by yourself as you engage in the practical aspects of it.â The participants appreciated the effort taken by the organizers. One of them, Egas Nhamucho of IIAM, said: âInfestation of maize with stem borers was a real learning point for me, a real delicate task of picking out very tiny 10 insect larvae, ensuring that you do not pierce and kill them with the camel brush, and carefully and strategically placing them on each maize plant. The practical sessions really made me appreciate some of the tasks we have always taken for granted.â
Scientists from the Heat Stress Tolerant Maize for Asia (HTMA) project and representatives from collaborating public and private sector institutions from the region, 
âWhen Richard Pamo, the then Caritas Development Coordinator [Homa Bay] introduced the metal silo technology to me in 2008, I felt I had received the solution to my perennial problems of storing my grains, particularly maize that was prone to weevil attack,â said Bishop Philip Anyolo of the Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay, Kenya, to a visiting team from the Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP-II). âI instantly ordered two silos, of 1- and 1.8-ton capacity. And I have never been disappointed. I was so satisfied with the ability of the metal silos to protect my maize against weevils that I acquired another 720-kg capacity metal silo for my mother in 2009.â
Impressed with the technology, the Bishop has advised all schools and institutions sponsored by the Catholic Church in Homa Bay to acquire metal silos for grain storage. His advice has since caught the attention of other institutions, including St. Vincent De Paul Boys Boarding School in Kisii County who acquired seven 2.7-ton metal silos in December 2011 after the Nyambururu Teachers College, Kisii County, bought ten 1.8-ton silos earlier in the year; the College had learned of the technology from the Kokwaro Secondary School in Homa Bay Diocese who had acquired eight 2.7-ton silos in 2010. Since the launch of EGSP-II in October 2012 in Kenya, Homa Bay farmers have acquired 230 metal silos, and institutions in the area, particularly boarding schools and colleges, have bought 47 more, according to Beautrice Otieno, Livelihoods Program Manager at Caritas Homa Bay and the site coordinator for western Kenya.
âProduction is all in vain if farmers cannot store the harvested produce. Effective storage is even more critical at these times of climate change, where the associated weather vagaries adversely affect production. Whatever little that we produce should be well managed, and that includes being well stored for use at the desired time,â stressed Jennifer Ndege, Chief Officer, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries at Homa Bay County. Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT entomologist and EGSP-II coordinator, agrees: âA lot of agencies focus on increasing productivity but very few on the management of what has been harvested. Yet this is a very important aspect in any food security chain.â The information was collected during an assessment tour of Homa Bay and surrounding counties conducted by the EGSP-II Kenyan team during 15-19 July 2013; the team consisted of Tefera, Isaac Mutabai (CIMMYT), Wandera Ojanji (CIMMYT science writer/editor), Zachary Gitonga (CIMMYT Socioeconomics Program research associate), Addis Teshome (CIMMYT entomologist), Jackson K. Njana (Caritas-Embu), Everastus Okumu (Caritas-Homa Bay director), Otieno, Paddy Likhayo (Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, KARI), and Kimondo Mutambuki (KARI and EGSP-II Kenya national coordinator).
âClimatic extremes and variability are  becoming more frequent and resulting in losses for farmers. This issue cannot be addressed in isolation; it needs collective participation of all stakeholders, at all levels,â stated Clare Stirling, leader of the CIMMYT component of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) CRP, at a stakeholder consultation on âClimate Smart Agricultural Technologies for Smallholder Farmers of Biharâ held on 22 July 2013.
The lively discussions included almost 200 participants, including innovative CSV farmers from Bhatthadasi, Rajapakar, and Mukundpur (Vaishali district); agriculture advisors from various Village Panchayats; climate smart farmer groups, research students, and local service providers. M.L. Jat, CIMMYT-CCAFS South Asia Leader, explained the concept of CCAFS CSVs in South Asia, and the key climate smart activities they are implementing for the benefit of smallholder farmers in Biharâs Vaishali district. Participants visited demonstration plots where R.K. Jat, CIMMYT-BISA Cropping Systems Agronomist, showed how mechanization and conservation agriculture-based management practices are being implemented even on small, fragmented land holdings. By effectively âpoolingâ their land for operational purposes, farmers have improved efficiency, reduced costs, and established timely crop management even with uncertain rainfall. R.K. Jat also explained the main advantages of the key climate smart interventions such as zero tillage, Direct Seeded Rice (DSR), raised bed planting, residue management, crop diversification, and nutrient management in managing climate risks and optimizing resources for higher profitability for the smallholders.
The active participation of about 80 female farmers allowed for a balanced and varied consultation. All the farmers expressed their concerns regarding climate variability and how it is affecting their livelihoods. They shared their experiences of turning their villages into CSVs, and how the new practices have benefitted them; after planting their wheat under zero till in the winter of 2012-13, farmers were initially skeptical of these changes to age-old practices, but having now reaped higher yields with less input costs, all the farmers have committed to planting under zero tillage next season. DSR has also been recently introduced, and the farmers thought the technology seemed promising in that it would reduce cultivation costs and provide some security under the increasing uncertainties of rainfall and labor shortages. The women farmers praised the intoduction of the ZT machine by CIMMYT under CCAFS. With many men migrating to cities, the women highlighted the reduced labor load with the increased availability of machinery and bed planting of maize and legumes.
Wheat was not a traditional staple in much of Africa, but urbanization, a growing middle class, and changing lifestyles are driving a rapid increase in demand for it. The urban and rural poor in Africa eat wheat, as do more prosperous consumers, and demand is burgeoning with rising populations. But leading wheat producing countries in Africa grow enough to meet at most 40% of their demand, so the continent imports more than US$ 15 billion-worth of grain each year.
The metal silo technology promoted by CIMMYT for maize storage has been hailed in Kenya as the ultimate solution to high maize postharvest losses caused by the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) and large grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus), two major destructive insects of stored maize causing 30% losses and more than 80% damage to stored maize in Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The real losses are even bigger: when considering their environmental impact, the subsequent losses in nutritional value, industrial input, market opportunities, and the possible adverse effects on health of populations consuming poor-quality products, the need for interventions becomes even more apparent and pressing. âAddressing waste across the entire food chain must therefore be a critical pillar of future national food strategies,â said Ngari Nyaga, Crop Post Harvest Division head at the Kenyan 
Big news for public and private maize breeders and seed providers in Africa: you can now test your lines and hybrids under controlled stress conditions that allow you to tell how theyâll perform when grown by farmers. The latest results from regional maize stress screening trials and other important topics formed the agenda of the annual meeting of the Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) project, which during 10-12 July 2013 drew more than 70 participants to its Nairobi venue, including representatives from CIMMYT, which leads the project, Â key partners 
âI can now identify with accuracy plants affected with maize lethal necrotic disease,â stated Regina Tende, PhD student attached to CIMMYT, after attending the CIMMYT-Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (
During his opening speech, Joseph Ngâetich, deputy director of Crop Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, noted that about 26,000 hectares of maize in Kenya were affected in 2012, resulting in an estimated loss of 56,730 tons, valued at approximately US$ 23.5 million. Seed producers also lost significant acreages of pre-basic seed in 2012: Agriseed lost 10 acres in Narok; Kenya Seed lost 75; and Monsanto 20 at Migtyo farm in Baringo, according to Dickson Ligeyo, KARI senior research officer and head of Maize Working Group in Kenya.