Zimbabwe's biggest seed producer, Seed Co, said it might soon start exporting maize seed as it had a surplus.
Managing director Dennis Zaranyika said that the company had been getting maize seed import enquiries from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin and some countries in North Africa. But he said Seed Co would only export seed if it got the green light from the government, which had to be assured of adequate maize seed supplies for the local market before the company could start exporting.
"It's starting to happen," Zaranyika said. "We have started to have excess maize seed in some varieties and we want to export for foreign currency generation." He said some of the seeds had been on trial in some of the countries, and had performed very well, prompting them to place orders.
Seed Co's sales and agronomy manager said the company, which operates in such countries as Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya and Tanzania, had increased maize seed production through training new farmers.
Maize seed production at Seed Co and other seed companies in the country took a nose dive when government embarked on the land reform programme in 2000, which resulted in many white seed farmers ceasing operations. For the past five years, Zimbabwe has been facing maize seed shortages which, however, have now been eradicated as many new farmers have mastered the skills to produce quality seed.
Seed Co produces 85 percent of the country's maize seed requirements, which stand at around 50,000 tonnes per year.
The Herald
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