Sh100m maize facility to boost food security
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei: Mr Koskei said the move is intended to eliminate bureaucracy to streamline departments of agriculture. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Through funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationamounting to Sh100 million ($1.2 million), the facility will help breeders bring down the period taken to come up with parental lines of maize hybrids.
Farmers can now access improved maize varieties across the country following the unveiling of a breeding facility in Makueni County.
The facility, Maize Doubled Haploid (DH) Facility for Africa, will use modern ways of accelerating the development of improved varieties.
The facility has been established by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in partnership with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari) on a 20-hectare land in Kari-Kiboko Station, Makueni County.
Speaking at the unveiling of the facility, Agricultural Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei said research should be used to come up with drought resistant crops to boost food security.
“Traditionally, maize is grown on some 1.2-1.6 million hectares annually, producing 2.6-3.6 million tonnes with a net value of Sh45-Sh65 billion,” said Mr Koskei.
However, according to the Cabinet Secretary, the annual production has fallen to two million tonnes, and consumption outstrips production by almost one million tonnes.
“With the current population standing at 40 million people, and increasing annually, it is easy to perceive the scenario of food insecurity facing the country,” said Mr Koskei.
Through funding by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationamounting to Sh100 million ($1.2 million), the facility will help breeders bring down the period taken to come up with parental lines of maize hybrids.
“Unlike conventional breeding which takes at least seven to eight seasons to develop parental lines (inherited lines) of maize hybrids, the new lines are generated within just two to three seasons, saving a significant amount of time, labour and other resources,” reads a description from the facility.
Kiboko region, being an ideal environment for growing both tropical and subtropical materials and for developing DH lines throughout the year, informed the decision to set up a facility there.
According to the researchers, the area also does not experience any significant problems of disease and insect pressure during crop cycles.
