Farmers keen on Seed Policy approval

The draft Seed Policy which is awaiting Cabinet approval needs to clearly outline advantages and disadvantages of local and hybrid varieties, farmers have said.

At a meeting in Lilongwe last week organised by the department of human ecology at Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, some farmers said the policy is biased towards hybrid seeds.

“We need balanced information and not emphasising on hybrid varieties. In practice, both local and hybrid varieties have advantages and disadvantages, which farmers need to be aware of,” said Kaunda Moyo, a farmer from Dedza.

He said the information gap is a result of not engaging the farmers during the process of formulating the policy to incorporate their views.

The department is running a project called Smart Maffa in which it engages farmers to research on local and hybrid varieties.

Mangani Katundu, a senior lecturer in the department of food and nutrition security, said findings from the farmers’ tests have shown that some local varieties are better than hybrids in certain aspects.

“Some farmers have discovered that some local varieties give the same yield as hybrids. Some looked at the utility aspect and discovered that maize flour from some local varieties lasts longer than flour from hybrids,” he said.

Katundu said scientific treatment may increase the yield, which is good for business, but may not be desirable in food security when grown for consumption at household level.

Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (Cepa) programmes manager Herbert Mwalukomo said farmers’ rights are vital in the development of a vibrant agricultural sector to achieve food security. n