Progress in maize despite drought
MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) Mlibo Qoboshiyane has declared that “there will be progress in maize production” despite the current drought situation prevailing in Africa.
The MEC was speaking during the Water Efficient for African (WEMA) ninth project review and planning meeting held at the East London International Convention Centre, aimed at reviewing the progress made in drought-tolerant maize hybrids in five African countries.
Qoboshiyane hailed the introduction of drought-tolerant maize as “one of the major giant steps by scientists that mitigate effects of the drought.”
“We aim to take communal farmers to the level of small-medium scale and commercial farmers hence the introduction of these cultivators will assist.
“This partnership speaks to the province’s goal of creating food security.”
The WEMA project is a public-private partnership implemented in five East and South African countries, including South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique. It aims to improve food security and rural livelihoods among smallholder cereal producers in Africa by developing drought-tolerant and insect-pest protected hybrids adapted to Africa. The meeting, attended by delegates from these countries, aimed to discuss achievements, challenges, lessons learnt and plan the activities for WEMA in 2017.
MEC Qoboshiyane noted that the meeting was “not going to be a boardroom discussion” as the delegates would be taken to a site at Nqadu village to see how the five cultivars planted in the province are doing. “The yield is good.”
Agriculture Research Council (ARC) president and CEO Dr Shadrack Moephuli said the WEMA project was aimed at “looking for solutions by using new technologies to produce maize hybrids that are resistant to drought.”
“These cultivars are of high nutritional value. We are here to discuss how the small enterprises that produce these cultivars can be sustained and produce them on a large scale. We need to move faster so that small-scale farmers in our rural areas can benefit.”
WEMA hopes to better the yield of the farmers by producing maize cultivars that offer a “more reliable harvest,” its CEO Dr Denis Kyetere said.
“We want to boost their confidence to invest in other farming practices. We aim to improve their income and food security,” he said.
According to WEMA the hybrids are resistant to “major diseases” like turcium, grey leaf spot and maize streak virus.
ARC has been working with DRDAR to demonstrate the performance of WEMA drought-tolerant maize cultivars for more than three years.
During the 2015/16 cropping season, a year dominated by severe drought, WEMA cultivars were planted at Tsolo Agriculture and Rural Development Institute, Dohne Agricultural Development Institute, Fort Cox College of Agriculture and Forestry and Cradock Research Station. These cultivars performed well despite the occurrence of drought, however yields were below expectation.
During this cropping season, five WEMA cultivars were planted in six districts to demonstrate their performance to farmers because each district has its own unique environment in terms of temperature, rainfall, soils, pests and disease conditions.
The delegates visited a maize field at Nqadu village where WEMA- TELA product resistant to drought was used to assess progress and listen to how farmers felt about the product.
Noziphiwo Mgudlwa, one of the farmers who have potential in maize production, was identified to do trials on her home garden. She planted different types of maize seeds resistant to the drought and in December 2016 she planted the WEMA-TELA seed that has not given her any problems in growing.
‘’The lack of rain does not worry me
“This partnership speaks to the province’s goal of creating food security”
as the maize is able to grow without it,’’ said Noziphiwo. “This is a good product for us maize farmers and the fertilizer used on the maize is 232. I hope that I will have a big harvest this time around as the maize is progressing.”
Mr Magafela, another farmer in the Nqadu area identified for trials of the WEMA-TELA maize, said it was their first time planting this product but they were seeing progress in growth and hoped for huge yields. “If we can use this maize seed all the time we will be able to have large production.”
The delegation of researchers led by Dr Maqubela did a walkabout on the maize field and saw the progress made.
Representatives from other African countries and provinces were also given time to voice their views on the product.
Sylvester Oyike, WEMA project manager from Nairobi, Kenya, said they started the project in 2008 to address the drought problem in Africa. This is the second phase of the project and for the first time in South Africa TELA maize had been produced which is water tolerant for small scale farmer.
Dr Silwana, who was giving the key note address for the day, said the department was happy to have this product as it will give relief to maize farmers faced with drought in the province.
“Without food families won’t survive and farmers will not have production on their farms.”