Nigeria grows the largest quantity of maize in Africa but unfortunately, the West African giant is not rated so because 80% of the yield is lost annually, the Managing Director of EcoBasic Seed has said.
Brighton Karume said due to the fact that majority of farmers in Nigeria depend on Open Pollinated Variety (OPV) rather than embrace high yield hybrid, which is all whether friendly, the country only enjoy 20% yield of it’s maize produce annually.
Speaking during a tour of one of the company’s demonstration farms at Kwanar Farakwai along Kaduna – Zaria road on Saturday, Karume said having seen the need to bridge the gap between foundation and certified seed, his company has with the introduction of technology driven hybrid maize seed enabled Nigerian farmers to now enjoy a bumper yield, avoid loss due to adverse whether and maximise profit on their produce.
“In Africa today, Nigeria is not leading in maize production but grows the largest maize hectarage on the continent and this is hugely due to its inability to utilize the opportunities provided by the introduction of hybrid varieties which enable the farmer to produce more from the same old piece of land. Technology now plays a very crucial role in agricultural productivity and hybrid technology brings about improved varieties which is helping farmers in other countries in their quest for food and nutritional security.
“It is important that our farmers reduce their concentration on Open Pollinated Varieties (OPV) and embrace Hybrid Varieties which yield better, is drought resistant and has the capacity of leapfrogging Nigeria to the attainment of self-sufficiency in maize production.
“A year ago, we debut with the promise of bridging the wide gap between foundation and certified seed production in the country as a way of giving our farmers the opportunity to maximize profit, and expand their production with the availability of quality and 100% seed purity. We have been able to transform into an exciting organization working with out growers to cultivate over 50 hectarage of maize and cowpeas (beans) foundation seed across Nigeria.
“Prolific germination of about 60 different demonstration sites across Kaduna, Niger and Kano states with about 10 different varieties of hybrid maize including Sammaz 62, Sammaz 63 and Sammaz 68 of drought tolerant and high yield. To date 32 seed companies have committed to work by placing foundation seed orders of various hybrids including the new cowpea seed on the market against next year. Although our operations are far from our overall target, we are convinced that with sustained investment, Nigeria will meet its annual maize deficit of 8 million metric tons.
The farmer managing the demonstration farm, Malam AbdulRazak Rabi’u said they planted the maize seeds on July 23, and after 10 days they applied fertilizer then pesticide and later they weeded the farm. Comparing the farm with nearby farm of open pollinated variety, he said, “the difference is clear. The quality and the yield are very high. The hybrid will be ready within 100 days, but for OPV it will take 120 days to mature,” he said.