PELUM ZAMBIA TRAINS 10 FARMERS IN LOCAL SEED PRODUCTION AS IT SEEKS TO REVIVE THE USE OF LOCAL SEEDS BY FARMERS

 

picture credit:theconversation

According to the Zambia agriculture status report 2021 released by, the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute –IAPRI, Zambia recorded a 6 percent rise in the use of improved seed, from 66 percent reported in the 2019/2020 agricultural season (irrespective of crops produced) to about 72 percent in 2020/2021 agricultural season.

 

The report reveals that for maize, the percent of smallholder households using improved seed increased substantially to about 76 percent, up from 70 percent recorded in the previous agricultural season, representing an increase of 6 percentage points.

 

The report shows that for the past 15 years, the use of improved seeds among smallholder farmers has been on the upswing.

 

It further indicates that between 2004 and 2019, the number of farm households using improved seed increased by about 36 percentage points and the 2020/2021 use rate is the highest while the lowest was in 2004 which recorded a 44 percent.

 

“The general increase in improved seed use over the years is attributed, partly, to increased private sector participation in the seed sector, including research, breeding, production, marketing and extension services, which has contributed to the adoption of improved seed use among smallholder farmers,” the report states.

 

It adds that, “the traditional FISP might have contributed to this increase, especially that hybrid maize seed is part of the subsidized package. Further, the government’s Food Security Pack-FSP, which distributes free hybrid maize seed to vulnerable households, may have partly accounted for this increase in the use of improved seed. Further, there has been increased sensitization by seed companies to farmers on the importance of using certified improved seed. Most seed companies run demonstration plots in different parts of the country to illustrate the practical benefits of improved seed and farmers have appreciated this hence uptaking the improved seed.”

 

But Muketoi Wamunyima the Country Coordinator at the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management –PELUM Zambia, an organisation whose focus is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the sustainability of farming communities by fostering ecological land use management, revealed that recently, they trained about 10 farmers in local seed production and hopes they can start producing seeds, like seed companies and share among themselves at the community level.

 

This, he expects will help resuscitate the local seed industry. 

 

Mr Wamunyima said there is a need to see how best these seeds [local seeds] can be promoted in the communities by introducing seed banks in local communities to enable them to share among themselves.

 

“The goodness with local seeds is that farmers [can] share among themselves and once you have the local seeds, you can recycle them for three or four years without buying anything. This can help farmers cut their expenses where they have to buy seeds every year. So the benefits are quite a lot for the farmers in terms of savings,” Mr Wamunyima.

 

However, Mr Wamunyima also observed that farmers are not having [access to] a lot of traditional seeds that they used to have [a long time], because they have barely been growing maize mainly and few legumes but other crops such as Sorghum and millet have almost become extinct in the community. 

 

 “We need to empower local communities to produce their own seed and begin to share amongst themselves. We are also trying to engage the government on this issue, to see how they can best help farmers produce this seed and probably have the laws that support the production of local seeds because currently the law supports the hybrid seeds in terms of testing and having them on the market. If you grow seed at the community level, if it is not certified, it’s not called seed and you cannot sell it. So we want the law to change and support the farmer-managed seed system.

 

And speaking in an interview with this reporter, a Mubwa based farmer, Mary Sakala highlighted the advantages of farmers using local seeds saying they assure low cost of inputs, nutritious and less toxic foods by farmers compared to hybrid seeds which mainly contain chemicals.

 

Ms Sakala said there is a need to encourage farmers to use local seeds because they can be used without applying chemicals.

 

She expressed concern that at present the government is a bit silent on indigenous seeds stating that, the crop diversification agenda is encouraging the farmers to use the improved seeds when it is very difficult for one to start breeding.

 

“I personally use the Gankta and Kafwamba. I have recycled for years, especially the legumes, (groundnuts), and the cowpeas sorghum. I have all these at my home .this year I have recycled some and am much assured of a better yield,” Ms Sakala said.

 

“For now we have what we call the seed industry which has its own policy which recognizes the breeders and improved seeds and the government is a bit on indigenous seeds. It’s like these multinational companies have a lot of funds to support the sector, “she noted.

 

She urged the government to look into the issue so that farmers can have access to local seeds.  

 

But Agriculture Minister, Ruben Mtolo assured that the government will not discourage the use of open-pollinated seeds (local seeds) because they can be recycled.

 

“You know hybrid seeds are very high yielding and the promotion of these seeds has been very strong. For Open-pollinated seeds, it is now that they are being commercialized. The good part about them is that you can keep what you produce and plant it and plant it, over and over again. On the little left side of open-pollinated seeds, the negative side is that the yield is not as high as the hybrid seeds. But the problem we have is that our farmers don’t have that knowledge, they still keep the hybrid seeds and try to plant them as if they are open-pollinated and therefore yields drop. So will not discourage open-pollinated seeds, we encourage them because they are part of the farming group, “he said.