Zimbabwe: Farmers await the distribution of a new hybrid maize seed
By Alan Rushesha – The staple food growers across the country are waiting for the distribution of the newly unveiled and much publicized drought tolerant maize seed SIRDA 113 which is suitable for all farming regions amid speculations that the crop will yield a huge turnover in mainly the water-stricken areas.
The development came at a time when most farmers were crying fowl over a dry spell that ravaged some parts of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces resulting in the wilting of their crops.
“The availability of this seed means a lot to us farmers and the entire community; we have been reduced to nothing due to dry spells.
“We are now only waiting to put it to the test to make sure if it really suits our climatic conditions and the type of soil here in Gokwe,” said a commercial farmer Amos Matunga.
According to researchers of SIRDIC-, a brainchild of the maize seed, the company vested more confidence in the crop and assured that the seed will be available in all maize seed selling outlets countrywide.
The crossbreed seed is aimed at trebling the maize production in the country to meet the perceived demand from the international and regional market and curbing hunger.
Experts confirmed that the maize seed is suitable for all farming regions in the country with region one to two and three to four producing about 13 tones and nine tones per hectare respectively while region five yielding about five tones.
A SIRDIC researcher Dexter Savadye was quoted in Zimbabwe’s sole broadcast television saying: “just like any other maize seed, SIRDA 113 takes three months to grow.
He also urged farmers to have their soils sampled before the application of fertilizers.
SIRDA 113 is a blend of a Mexican and a local gene.
