Online seed bank to help farmers select varieties suitable for specific areas

Farmers sowing seed at the beginning of a planting season. A new online seed bank known as Mbeguchoice will assist farmers in selecting the right seeds for specific climatic conditions. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mbeguchoice allows farmers and local seed sellers to access a list of suitable seed varieties for specific weather conditions and soils for their areas.
  • Currently, the online database contains over 200 commercialised crop varieties, including 61 varieties of maize, 25 of common bean, 11 of cassava, 13 of Irish potato, and 12 of sorghum.
  • In the past, farmers have relied on trial-and-error methods and take years before getting the right seeds, leading to massive losses and poor harvests.
  • The database will also ensure that only certified seeds are on the market and that unscrupulous seed vendors will be locked.

For the first time, farmers in Kenya will be able to select the right kind of seeds for specific local conditions after the government launched an online ‘seed bank’.

Mbeguchoice, developed jointly by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Kalro), the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis), seed companies and Agri Experience, with support from Kenya Markets Trust, allows farmers and local seed sellers to access a list of suitable seed varieties for specific weather conditions and soils for their areas.

Speaking during the inaugural ceremony in Nairobi, Agri Experience director Aline O’Connor said Mbeguchoice was a free-of-charge online portal aimed at helping farmers drive food production for Kenya’s top four staple foods – maize, common beans, sorghum and cowpeas and a host of other 200 seed varieties.

“A strong food production system starts with high-yielding crop varieties developed for specific farming environments whose good characteristics of being disease and drought resistant as well as early maturity will help farmers make informed choices,” said the director.

Currently, the online database contains over 200 commercialised crop varieties, including 61 varieties of maize, 25 of common bean, 11 of cassava, 13 of Irish potato, and 12 of sorghum.

LOCK OUT UNSCRUPULOUS VENDORS

The database will also ensure that only certified seeds are on the market and that unscrupulous seed vendors will be locked out as no unauthorised seed producer will be allowed to post untested seeds on the online portal.

The site will be updated as new varieties come on the market with farmers adding their input of their most preferred seeds for diverse climatic conditions.

In the past, farmers have relied on trial-and-error methods and take years before getting the right seeds, leading to massive losses and poor harvests.

This has in turn made millions of Kenyan to face starvation that costs the country billions of shillings in imports.

Kenya Markets Trust chief executive officer Paul Wanyagah termed the online portal launch as a much needed remedy to the fierce competition in the food crops seed market saying its growth needed stronger links between seed producers, agro dealers, extension agents and farmers.

Seed Trade Association of Kenya executive member and Agri SeedCo’s managing Director Mr Kassim Owino added that seed sellers now had a direct link to seed companies.

Karlo’s breeder and research centre manager Dr Philip Leley said the trial-and-error method was now long gone and urged farmers to utilise the new method by using Internet-enabled phones as well as short text message services to access the right seeds for their areas.

The biggest winners are urban based ‘telephone farmers’ who micro-manage farms and assist relatives back home with farm inputs oblivious of the existing climatic conditions.