Why and how farmers should access good seeds

If farmers want to reap good harvests, it is important that they buy certified seeds from registered seed companies and agro-input dealers. This will enable them get planting materials, which are disease-free and high yielding.

In Uganda, seed certification is conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Crop Protection Unit. The Commissioner for Crop Protection, Mr Komayombi Bulegeya, says his team carries out the certification exercise at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories in Kawanda.

There are 23 registered companies dealing in seed and before their products are distributed, they must be certified. Some farmers also bring their seed for certification especially those who breed them for commercial purposes. The Unit also inspects seed fields, factories, mother gardens and nurseries to ensure compliance with procedures for seed production.

Good quality
During the purity and germination tests, scientists receive samples of seeds such as maize, barley, wheat and beans, among others. They put the seeds in the lab and test their growing strength in a confined-field trial.
The seeds are later tested in different fields to confirm their growth ability. There are several other tests that are done to ensure the seeds are of good quality.

Dr Titus Alicai, the Principal Investigator at national cassava programme based in Namulonge, advises farmers looking for vegetative propagated crops such as cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, coffee and cocoa can visit the Zonal Agricultural Research Institutes (ZARDIs), regional National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) offices and district agricultural offices, who will direct them where to buy these seedlings.

He adds that in some cases the ZARDIs have the seedlings, which farmers can buy directly. But also all the others mentioned have usually given out improved varieties to farmers’ groups for multiplication.
Farmers are advised to purchase improved varieties of vegetative propagated crops if they want to have quality output for better income.

Better income
“Usually, vegetative propagated crops are multiplied by individual farmers who in turn sell to other farmers. Others are multiplied by farmer groups who receive these varieties from the institutes. For cassava, we recommend farmers to access Nase 14 variety which is high yielding, resistant to Cassava Mosaic virus and tolerant to Cassava Brown Streak virus,” Dr Alicai said.

Mr Job Chemutai, who headed the Uganda Seed Traders Association, says it is important for farmers to access seeds of legume crops, cereals and oil crops such as groundnuts, sunflower and soya beans from certified seed companies and registered agro dealers instead of buying from unrecognised sellers.

Farmers should observe the packaging and make sure the seals of the sachets used have not been tampered with or broken. They should also look at the logo of the seed company and for the certificate number allowing them to trade in seeds.

“Certified seed outlets give farmers what is processed from the factory. I usually encourage farmers to purchase hybrid seeds for commercial purposes. But for subsistence farming, they can go ahead to plant their traditional seeds kept in granaries although it is not advisable to practise subsistence farming in today’s era,” Chemutai says.

Regarding fears of seed duplication, the farmers may purchase a few kilos of a particular seed and conduct an examination test by planting it on a small plot to see if it can germinate and grow well before they plant the seeds on a larger area.
Since hybrid seeds are costly and are planted only once, it is advisable to conduct examination tests.

Higher yields
“For example, onion seeds cost about Shs25,000 per kilo. If a farmer goes planting without carrying out an examination [trial] test, he or she stands to lose in case they do not germinate and grow well,” he adds.

Chemutai also tells farmers who wish to purchase hybrid varieties not to buy in bulk and keep for the next season because the seeds will have lost their high yielding strength. But as far as maize varieties are concerned, farmers can grow both hybrid and open pollinated varieties (OPV) although the former produces higher yields.

He said farmers who want to plant OPVs should purchase Longe 4 and 5 and should apply good agronomic practices such as fertiliser application, timely weeding and mulching, among others, in order to increase their farm output.
“A good hybrid maize variety can yield up to 40 bags per hectare. In the eastern districts like Kapchorwa, farmers have adopted the Kenya hybrid variety called 614H and in lower altitude areas such as Bulambuli, the farmers are growing 613H variety. They like these varieties because they have good attributes in that the taste is nice and the flour is good and heavy,” Chemutai said.

Most of the Ugandan hybrid maize varieties are grown in Masindi, in the northern region and in the western region especially in Kasese district.
Bean farmers are advised to adopt high yielding varieties such as the Namulonge bean varieties NABE 4 to 15. These varieties represent both climbing beans and bush beans and farmers can keep them for the next planting season.

Seek advice
Crops such as rice also have varieties that are high yielding especially the upland Nerica Rice, which Chemutai recommends for farmers.
But the oil crops such as soya bean, groundnuts and sunflower lose their seed value chain very fast and farmers are advised not to buy them in bulk to keep for the next planting season. Farmers should purchase fresh seeds whenever they want to plant these crops.

Farmers are also encouraged to seek advice from agricultural experts from time to time because in selecting the type of seeds to grow, the farmer must know which season favours a particular crop in order to achieve high yields and better earnings.

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