Zimpapers Logo

Business Reporter

Seed Co expects its seed conditioning plant to dry 12 000 tonnes of wet seed maize this year, which will enable the company to supply the market with adequate seed maize.

This means farmers will be the biggest beneficiaries as they will be able to obtain seed maize much earlier as well as plant on time, enhancing their planning for seasonal crop rotation.

President Mnangagwa officially opened the state-of-the-art Seed Co seed maize conditioning plant in September last year. The plant provides faster drying technology from above 60 days sun drying to just three to four days.

This modern technology plays a pivotal role by creating opportunities for double cropping resulting in higher returns per hectare, contributing towards sustainable agriculture.

Over the years some growers would not be able to grow wheat because they would not have harvested their seed maize crop and land prepared in time for the winter crop.

“However, our contracted seed growers have been presented with the opportunity to harvest and deliver their wet seed maize cobs, resulting in early land preparation for wheat, which also is an added advantage to the grower, and ultimately the nation.

“To date 200 hectares of seed maize contracted to the seed maize conditioning plant has been harvested and freed for early winter cereals land preparation taking advantage of residual moisture and intermittent rains. Our aim is to promote and support the growth of the agricultural sector in Zimbabwe,” Seed Co said.

Seed Co planted four different seed maize varieties on a total of 2 100 ha during the 2021/22 summer season destined for the seed maize conditioning plant.

“We anticipate to dry 12 000 tonnes of wet seed maize cobs which will be received at plus or plus 35 percent moisture content, and dried down to 12,5 percent moisture content to give us an estimate of 4 000 MT of dry kernels,” Seed Co said.

Consistent and timely supply of seed maize as and when required by farmers is enabled by productivity enhancing technologies such as this Seed Co seed maize conditioning plant.

The plant lessens Seed Co’s turnaround time to hit the market, previously affected by late deliveries. Farmers are now presented with the option to prepare for the season in time by purchasing their seed early.

“With the Seed Co plant, each grower is allocated a drying bin as per delivered crop thereby enabling traceability.

“The grower will be able to follow through the entire process from tonnage at delivery, right up to post shelling tonnage as each item is accounted for (that is the dried kernels, the cobs and the waste materials).

“Our commitment is transparency, and early payment to the grower.

Moreover a huge base of employment has been created at Seed Co including in downstream and upstream industries (farms and transporters, etcetera) because of this development.

Agricultural infrastructure is an important aspect to enhancing Zimbabwe’s agricultural productivity and production.

The Seed Co plant is one of the ways Seed Co is contributing to the agriculture mechanisation agenda in Zimbabwe and thereby working to close the infrastructure gap in the agriculture sector.

“Our strategy is in line with ensuring we seed and feed Zimbabwe. Hence ensuring that Zimbabwe is food secure is our main drive. This new  technology enables us to realise our vision.”