LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
One of Africa’s biggest seed producers, Seed Co, is planning on developing new wheat varieties which require less water in the near future in a bid to counter the effects of erratic power supplies which has affected yields.
The development comes at a time when the country is recording subdued wheat production due to crippling power outages.
Seed Co (Zimbabwe) head agronomist Wendy Madzura told Business Times that the seed company will come up with ways to develop a hybrid wheat seed that will require less water in the wake of power outages.
“On the maize front we are developing some ultra early varieties that are drought tolerant; we would like to have the same concept in wheat varieties to grow with minimal irrigation.
“This will help more farmers to grow wheat despite power cuts,” Madzura said, adding the new varieties would be added in future and not this year.
Agriculture experts estimate that farmers lost more than 50% of their wheat to power cuts last year.
Farmers were forced to reduce hectarage to about 30ha from 65 000ha which had been projected.
Madzura said the coming up of that kind of variety will be a game-changer in wheat farming globally.
Zimbabwe needs over 400 000 of wheat yearly but is managing less than 100 000 yearly, with the rest being imports. According to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country is spending over US$200m yearly on wheat imports to fill the demand.
Close to ZWL$3bn has been set aside for winter wheat production.
Madzura said all varieties should have low lifespans to cut on costs and maximise profits.
Early maturity will also beat the first rains which normally exposes farmers to serious losses.
She said Seed Co will keep innovating modern technology and seed technologies to keep up with ever-changing climate.
This, Madzura said, will see the seed producer coming up with more varieties which will withstand moisture stress.
The varieties will have nitrogen use efficiency which makes a plant to photosynthesise faster therefore the crop grows faster.
Since last year, Seed Co has been moving towards increasing 73% of its total seed production to be early maturity varieties in a bid to attain good yields in times of drought.
The seed company has invested over US$28m towards research over the past six years in a bid to keep pace with the latest farming, climatic and environmental demands.
In 2017, a US$4m laboratory was designed to keep pace with the latest farming, climatic and environmental demands.
