Farmers in semi arid, but humid regions targeting the green maize market can harvest their produce in 75 days by planting Tego 46, a hybrid seed from Olerai Seeds Limited.
Osman Jumbe, the company’s representative in the Kenyan Coast region said the variety requires moisture during planting and flowering.
“Tego 46 has a sweet taste when green, therefore, it is appropriate for roasting and boiling. Today is the 75th day since the maize you see behind me was planted. That is how quickly the maize matures,” he said.
Inasmuch as it does not frequently rain at the Coast, the humidity from the Indian Ocean cools the leaves at night.
It also makes the ground wet. The little moisture available sustains the maize after germination to harvesting, although at flowering more of it is required to fill the cobs.
In 90-100 days, the maize is dry for harvesting. If the moisture was sufficient enough, each stalk can give two maize cobs.
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From one acre, a farmer can harvest 35- 40 bags, which makes it one of the most appropriate varieties for short season rain regions, he said.
At the same time, it is tolerant to weevil attack during storage, therefore, a good choice for prolonged storage.
Coast region rains patterns are highly unpredictable, therefore, maize maturing is six to eight months cannot do well.
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A two kiogramme pack of certified seeds or planting costs 400.