Farmers hit by lack of maize seeds

The country’s maize production is expected to decline due to a shortage of seeds this planting season.

This has sparked fears of a food crisis next year.

The Kenya Seed Company (KSC), the state corporation that controls about two-thirds of the seed market, said the country faces shortage of preferred maize seed varieties like H6213, which has the potential to produce up to 50 bags of maize an acre. Other varieties give an average of 25 to 30 bags per acre.

The Kenya Seed Company managing director, Mr Willy Bett, said as a result of the shortage, some unscrupulous traders in Nyeri and Nyandarua were selling fake seeds to unsuspecting farmers. He said the firm has intensified surveillance and would soon arrest the culprits.

Mr Bett said the company had released into the market the last stock of the variety H6213, adding that other highland varieties — H614, H629, H210, H625 and H26 — were in the market.

“We have the equivalent of these seed varieties and have been educating farmers on it. However, we have had the problem of some traders selling fake seeds,” said KSC communications manager, Mr Sammy Chepsiror.

He said whenever there are shortages in the market, unscrupulous traders fill the void by selling to farmers sub-standard seeds, contributing to poor production of maize in the country. These traders are estimated to control between 10 to 20 per cent of the Sh5 billion local market.

Tegemeo Institute, a research branch of Egerton University, last week warned that despite anticipated adequate rainfall, poor supply of seeds is likely to impact on the maize harvest next year.

The shortage of maize seeds has hit popular varieties like KS6213 and KS614, which register high yields.

Tegemeo said the shortage is a result of poor crop performance in Trans Nzoia County, a major seed production area.

The institute warned that if the situation persists, farmers are likely to resort to use of local uncertified seeds, poor quality seeds, and varieties unsuitable for their areas, leading to a significant decline in production.

Tegemeo Institute wants new strategies put in place to deal with the perennial shortage of some varieties of maize in the short- and long-term. The country, the institute says, should urgently produce seeds through irrigation to ensure that the project is not hampered by unreliable weather. For example, the institute said the low production of maize seed in the country was brought about by several weather-related factors last year in Trans Nzoia, which is a major supplier of seeds in the country.