Seeing is believing: demo farms accelerate adoption of stress tolerant maize

Joshua Masinde

Over 400 farmers from Manyatta in Embu County were on February 7, 2020, invited to a demonstration farm to witness the performance of various high yielding, early to medium maturing, drought tolerant maize varieties. Such occasions aim to encourage them to adopt varieties whose traits they preferred the most.

Some of the farmers who showed up for the field day in Embu County on February 7, 2020. Image-Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT.

They were invited by the Seed Trade Association of Kenya (STAK), with the support of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in continuation of the work started under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project, which was later succeeded by the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative. In attendance were officials from the Embu County government led by its minister in charge of agriculture, Jamleck Muturi, as well as ten seed firms, some of who use CIMMYT’s germplasm for seed propagation and marketing.

A seed company representative explains to the farmers the merits of the variety on this plot. Image-Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT.

Farmers such as 29-year old Nancy Wawira not only learnt of best agronomic practices, but also identified a high yielding, drought tolerant and early maturing variety she hopes to plant on her farm next season.

Nancy Wawira admiring a maize crop with double cobbers in one of the demo plots. Image-Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT.

For others like 52-year-old John Njiru, a father of four children, a higher-yielding variety with a lot of foliage, which remains green even after the maize cob has dried, is what he came looking for. The green maize foliage is significant income source due to demand from livestock keepers. He also feeds his own livestock with it, making substantial savings on animal feed expenditure.

John Njiru on a demo plot whose variety he likes. Image-Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT.

Posted on dtma, Eastern Africa News, Eastern Africa News, Eastern Africa Publications, Media&Stories, News, News & Media, News & Stories, News articles, News release, PhotoStories, Publications, Research News, February 19, 2020

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