Largescale maize farmers are shifting to growing maize seeds for Kenya’s seed companies offering increased prices and free inputs to growers to bolster their seed vaults following 2023’s seed production failure.
According to farmers and seed company extension officers, 2023 saw up to 60 per cent of seeds in major maize seed-growing areas such as Marigat were rejected by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) because of problems in production caused by irregular rains which diminished production and encouraged disease attacks and improper crop management leading to self-pollination. This led to maize seed shortage, with supplies of drought-resistant and high-yielding maize varieties such as 6213,614 and 629 being limited in many maize-growing regions of the country. Kenya Seed– the leading supplier of maize-growing seed to farmers– notes that the demand for maize seed remains higher than supply. To bridge this gap, the company is turning more farmers into seed producers to add 125,000 acres of land and 100 million more kilos of maize seeds for next year’s long and short rain seasons.
“With a kilogram of seed being bought for Sh90 up from Sh85 last year, many large-scale farms in areas such as Nakuru are now shifting to grow commercial seeds,” explained a private extension officer Mark Kandie.
One such farmer Robert Kiptoo opted to grow maize seeds this season owing to the good buying price and additional incentives like free fertilisers. “Currently, the maize seed growing sector is a seller’s market with seed buyers aggressively sourcing for seed growers,” said the Trans Nzoia farmer.
Other incentives given to farmers on a case-by-case basis include bonuses for every additional kilo supplied. Growing seeds are also purchased for an agreed-upon price that does not change. This is in contrast to maize prices which swing wildly depending on market supply.
Additional incentives such as bonuses pegged on the supply of clean seeds have also been introduced to prevent a repeat of wholesale seed rejection.
According to Kiptoo, maize seed growing is no walk in the park though. The stringent measures set in place by KEPHIS are now being enforced much tighter by seed companies following the seed crop failure of 2023. “I was hoping to grow 120-150 acres of land but this has been slashed to just 60 acres to comply with KEPHIS’s 200 meters isolation rule,” he pointed out.
This is done to avoid the maize being cross-pollinated by maize from neighbouring farms.
Thanks to the adequate and timely long rains of 2024 as well as the predictable weather patterns, Kandie informed that this season’s harvest has gone on without much of a hitch across the country.
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