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Government says it will work hand in hand with seed production company Seed Co. Malawi Limited to scale up the adoption of hybrids and improved seeds by the country’s famers to ensure higher yields.

Malawi lags behind in hybrid adoption by 37% in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.

Speaking during the first Inaugural Annual Growers Meeting organized by Seed Co, Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe applauded Seed Co. as a key stakeholder in agriculture saying the company plays a very important role in achieving food sufficiency in Malawi.

Lowe described hybrid and improved seed as key catalysts to improved yields in Malawi that would help to increase the current production of 1.8MT per hectare to around 5MT per hectare, closing the gap to match the regional average of 5MT per hectare.

He said: “The importance of hybrid seed to food security in Malawi cannot be overemphasized. Hybrids and improved seed are key to improving farmer yields. Unfortunately, hybrid adoption in Malawi currently at 37% lags behind countries in the region.”

“This is the more reason Government has introduced Affordable Input Programme (AIP) where over 4,200,000 farming families will benefit.”

“The development will increase the hybrid adoption rate and it is expected that all things being equal, Malawi will have a bumper harvest.”

Lowe also disclosed that the Government through the Ministry is developing and formulating the Seed Policy and Seed Bill.

He said the bill is being development to curb the proliferation of fake seeds and protect smallholder farmers from exploitation by unscrupulous traders.

“I pledge close working relationship between the Ministry, the Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) active in the seed sector,” he said.

In his remarks, Seed Co. Managing Director Boyd Luwe said the conference was organized to act as a platform to address questions from people interested in seed multiplication business as well as informing them of what it takes to be awarded a contract in the industry.

He said Seed Co. brought into the conference six powerful presentations which tackled different aspects in the seed multiplication business.

The topics are: Meaning of Winning: -Farmer-Based Seed Multiplication Systems; Seed Production and Certification Systems in Malawi; Implications of Genetic Purity on Quality and Crop Varietal Performance; Unlocking the Hidden Potential of Serenade Soybean Variety; Pure for sure: -Seed Quality Assurance at a Glance; and Cutting-Edge Research: -Amazing Genetics Gains for Climate Smart Agriculture.

He also disclosed that Seed Co. has adopted transformative initiatives to assist farmers to get resources to ensure that their businesses are well capitalized.

Speaking on sidelines of the meeting, a Grower for Seed Co. Linda Goodman from Lisumbwi farm in Mitundu, Lilongwe said the conference helped them to understand some of the aspects that will boost their agribusiness.

Goodman said: “This year’s conference will help us understand some of the things that we were not able to understand and also interact with other farmers nationwide and share ideas about how we can go further in farming.”

“Not only that, the conference will motivate more women to get attracted to farming which is only taken as male’s work, and also taking farming as a business not just for consumption.

The 15-year agribusiness entrepreneur also urged Seed Co. to continue with the meetings saying they will keep them familiar with the new technologies being developed in farming activities.

Seed Co. plans to be hosting the Growers Conference every year.

This year’s conference also marked 80th anniversary of the company in the seed business industry.

Agriculture as the main anchor of Malawi’s economy contributing 30% to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 60% to Malawi’s workforce in sector.

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