Strategies for strengthening and scaling up community-based seed production

Maize is the primary source of calories in the diet of many resource-poor farm families in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). International agricultural research centers, in collaboration with national agricultural research systems, continue to develop and disseminate technologies for adoption by smallholder farmers. These technologies are aimed at addressing the multiple constraints that smallholder farmers face. One of these new technologies is stress tolerant, more nutritious open-pollinated maize varieties (OPVs) and hybrids. Although many of these new varieties have been released by the national systems, smallholder farmers continue to encounter difficulties in accessing maize seed. To overcome this problem some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have initiated community-based seed production schemes to assist farmers with selecting, multiplying and saving seed of the improved OPVs to meet their own needs, and sometimes those of neighbouring communities. Community-based seed production schemes are most commonly initiated where the formal seed system is unreliable and the seed supply infrastructure is poor. However, NGOs and extension workers training farmers on seed production require sound knowledge of the differences between maize OPVs and hybrids, variety characteristics, strategies for community based seed production, and scaling up methodologies. It is to fill this need that this publication was compiled. CIMMYT hopes that this publication will become a useful resource for development workers involved in community-based seed production schemes and related facets of smallholder agriculture in the region.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Setimela, P.S., Kosina, P.
Format:	Book biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	CIMMYT 2006
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, PLANT BREEDING, MODELS, TRAINING PROGRAMMES, HYBRIDS, MAIZE, SEED PRODUCTION, AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10883/791
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