Why you must know seeds for your region

Betty Kiplagat, corporate affairs manager at Monsanto during an interview on August 19, 2014. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Our work is to produce resistant varieties which will need less spraying. That is one answer to the Minimum Residue Level issue. But rules are good for us all because we are talking about food.
  • The cost of producing hybrids is very high, but it is the only way if we are to improve yields for our farmers. If you get it wrong on seeds, you can’t get anything else right.
  • As our Mount Kenya Region Sales Manager Peter Kiburi will tell you, this has been introduced to farmers in areas like Nyeri and we are getting positive feedback as the variety is also good for fodder.

The government has been hostile to the adoption of Gentically Modified foods, while Monsanto and other promoters think it is the best thing to have happened since creation. Who is fooling who?

The world’s population is not going down and vagaries of nature are rising. Unless we have technologies that feed the population with limited space, there will be a problem. We have the conventional way, but we also have biotechnology and we at Monsanto are for choice.

By now Kenya should have been food secure yet it is fast losing the opportunity to plant drought resistant crops. We are denying our farmers a livelihood.
Look at BT cotton, for example. If it is rolled out, it can make Kenya a leading producer of cotton, yet worms are decimating hectares of cotton, leaving farmers impoverished.

Anxiety has gripped the horticultural sector over the impending European Union decision on Kenya’s imports with many fearing only the flowers could survive the embargo. Are you worried?

Our work is to produce resistant varieties which will need less spraying. That is one answer to the Minimum Residue Level issue. But rules are good for us all because we are talking about food.

The rules might hurt us in the short-term, but when we get it right it will help us all. Our priority at Monsanto is food crops like maize, tomatoes and onions, which we can never have enough of. Whenever I walk into a supermarket and I am told that the yellow and red pepper I am buying come from South Africa, I am saddened.

We still import onions from Ethiopia, tomatoes from Tanzania and our melons come from Uganda. If we utilise our land more efficiently and use hybrid seeds, we can produce the quantity and quality needed to feed us and export.

Yet some say that Monsanto seeds are expensive.

COST OF HYBRIDS

The cost of producing hybrids is very high, but it is the only way if we are to improve yields for our farmers. If you get it wrong on seeds, you can’t get anything else right.

Hybrid seeds mitigate drought, pests and diseases thereby cutting costs. In many instances, farmers have doubled their yields compared to when they plant open pollinated varieties.

So shall I say our seeds are pricy? No. Are we adding value to our customers? Yes. Look at our new maize varieties, for instance. KH600-22A will give you up to 60 bags per acre.

As our Mount Kenya Region Sales Manager Peter Kiburi will tell you, this has been introduced to farmers in areas like Nyeri and we are getting positive feedback as the variety is also good for fodder.

Farmers in low altitudes have DK8031, which can give them up to 40 bags per acre and can be grown twice a year, because it can mature between 90 and 110 days. Our vegetable section (headed by Elizabeth Mranda) has made great strides developing drought, disease and pest resistant varieties.

With our cutting edge research, farmers can now produce tomatoes out of season while onions can be harvested in three months rather than the usual five.