What you need to know about seeds during El Niño period

Kenya Seed Company, Managing Director Willy Bett. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Good harvest starts with planting the right seeds, including during this time when the country is expecting heavy rains.
  • Farmers, therefore, need to buy seeds now and take advantage of the rains. We have seeds which farmers can plant and harvest in three to four months, the period the rains are expected to last. 
  • As an institution, we have all ranges of food crop seeds. It’s not easy to change people overnight but the message has been loud and clear, let us not over rely on  maize but diversify to crops like sorghum, millet and simsim.

As a seed manufacturer, are you worried of El Niño?

Of course we are. The heavy rains are coming at a time we are bringing in our seeds. It is good we have been warned by the Meteorological Department. This has given us an opportunity to put strategies to ensure that we don’t experience damage as the rains start.

For instance, we have removed seeds from the fields and asked our contractors to work in haste and use this window before the El Niño comes to supply us as much seed as possible for drying. 

So, should farmers plant now or wait until the rains subside?

These rains come with benefits for areas that are normally dry, and from past experience, we expect that almost all areas will receive some rainfall. Farmers, therefore, need to buy seeds now and take advantage of the rains. We have seeds which farmers can plant and harvest in three to four months, the period the rains are expected to last. 

What maize seeds can farmers plant during the period?

We have various varieties targeting rain seasons. They include 516, 517, 513, 520 and DH04. The five series are ideal for mid-altitude areas like Central Kenya, Kakamega and Nakuru while the DH04 will be suited for dry areas. There is also the PH04, which will do well in the coastal region. But farmers will always be advised by the dealers on which is most appropriate. 

How has climate change affected production of seeds?

Seasons have changed greatly. These days the rains delay or disappear as soon as they start. But we have not had to change the varieties. What has happened is that varieties that qualified for only one season in the past can now be used for other seasons. So what we do is to constantly dispatch advisories to distributors and farmers. 

The problem of counterfeit. How are you fighting this menace to ensure farmers plant only quality seeds?

There are unscrupulous businessmen who want to take shortcuts by pretending that they are retailing hybrid seeds while in the real sense they are selling coloured grain. In all our seed packets, farmers will find a number which they can text to a given code as directed and they get prompt feedback telling them that this are genuine seeds from our company.

In case the product is fake, the farmer should report to us and we will follow up the matter. Fake seeds have grave impact on food security, we hope we will eliminate the problem by use of technology. 

There have been calls for us to stop relying so much on maize as a staple. What is you take on this?

It is wrong to put all your eggs in one basket. As an institution, we have all ranges of food crop seeds. It’s not easy to change people overnight but the message has been loud and clear, let us not over rely on  maize but diversify to crops like sorghum, millet and simsim. If people do mixed farming where you mix these crops with the maize, most families will not have the problem of hunger and malnutrition. 

Is the seed subsidy policy really benefitting farmers?

It is not, the reason why the government hasn’t given subsidy for the last two years. In the past, between Sh1 billion and Sh1.5 billion was used annually on the subsidy, but this was benefiting traders who were selling at more than the recommended prices. The only farmers who benefited were those in North Rift because of the proximity to the company. 

Is Kenya Seed Company prepared for the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) revolution?

GMO is a complicated issue right now. There is a ban and I really wouldn’t like to speak about it conclusively but what I can say is that as an institution, we are GMO-free as we speak now. But behind-the-scenes, we are doing a lot and come the time GMO will be embraced in this country, we will be there to play that game, because it’s a technology, which as an institution we would like to use. We will be ready when the country is ready.