A Kenya-based Bubayi Seed Company says it is seeking for land in South Sudan and Tanzania for seed production, Kenyan newspaper the Star has reported.
Speaking in his farm in Kiminini, Trans- Nzoia County where he produces seeds in large scale, Bubayi Seed Company, Managing Director, Jonathan Mayer, said land subdivision, reliance on rain-fed agriculture and diseases such as Maize Lethal Necrosis disease have affected seed production in Kenya.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Seed Trade Association of Kenya, Dr. Evans Sikinyi, says seed multiplication is the biggest challenge in the seed industry due to unavailability of land.
He says they are looking at the possibility of moving to neighboring countries like South Sudan or Tanzania which have open land.
Dr. Evans Sikinyi says as part of harmonization within the region, it is possible to take advantage of the land that is available in these countries to produce seeds.
He says initially the largest areas in seed production in Kenya were Kitale and other parts of the Rift Valley region but due to land subdivision, land has become smaller and smaller that is why don’t get adequate isolation distance.
Dr. Evans Sikinyi says for maize, it needs a distance of 200 meters for the certified seeds and for the breeders it is 400 meters between one field to another.
There has been concern about lack of seeds in South Sudan. If Bubayi Company manages to get a land, local farmers will benefit from the seed production, according to agricultural experts.