home news forum careers events suppliers solutions markets expos directories catalogs resources advertise contacts
 
News Page

The news
and
beyond the news
Index of news sources
All Africa Asia/Pacific Europe Latin America Middle East North America
  Topics
  Species
Archives
News archive 1997-2008
 

CIMMYT-Afghanistan to produce seed of first maize hybrids


May 18, 2015

Source: CIMMYT Blog
by Rajiv Sharma

In Afghanistan, CIMMYT has released three new maize hybrid varieties, the first public sector hybrids of any crop in the country. To foster the rapid and efficient production of seed of the new hybrids, CIMMYT-Afghanistan, in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA), held a two-day (25-26 April 2015) training course on maize breeding and quality seed production. In attendance were 56 participants from the government, academia, national and international organizations and seed companies. The course, conducted by AbduRahman Beshir, CIMMYT-Pakistan Maize Improvement and Seed System Specialist, was inaugurated by ARIA Director Qasem Obaidi and Rajiv Sharma, CIMMYT-Afghanistan Country Representative. Sharma highlighted the importance of participants learning about the new hybrids and collaborating to ensure their seed is adopted throughout the country.

Afghanistan, once a self-sufficient cereal producer generating up to 700,000-800,000 tons of maize in the 1960s-70s, now only produces around 300,000 tons annually––just 1.3 to 3.0% of estimated demand. A century of war and political instability has presented challenges to all sectors of society, including the food sector, which has depended on imported grain to feed the nearly 10 million people who have been added to Afghanistan’s population since 2002. Increased peace, social stability and rising incomes are contributing to higher consumption of meat and meat products, further raising demand for maize for feed and fodder.

The unavailability of seed of high yielding, disease resistant improved maize varieties is a major factor in lagging domestic production. A weak input-output market is another reason that farmers are not able to harvest higher maize yields, with Afghanistan producing only 2.0 tons per hectare, compared to its two immediate neighbors, Iran (6.5 t/ha) and Pakistan (3.9 t/ha). Joint CIMMYT/ARIA efforts over the past few years have led to the release of four open-pollinated varieties with the potential to improve small farmers’ yields. With the identification and release of the new hybrid varieties, CIMMYT-ARIA aims to speed the production and deployment of their seed, to enhance and sustain maize productivity and meet increasing demand.

Participants pose for photo.
Participants in maize breeding and quality seed production training, ARIA Badambagh research station. - Photo: Masood Sultan

Course participants learned about maize biology and the concepts of inbred maize development; they also took part in a discussion on maize seed production and seed systems in neighboring countries, as well as issues involved in certifying maize hybrid seed. Beshir discussed the principles of seed quality control. Saidajan Abdiani, President of Afghanistan’s National Seed Organization (ANSOR), shared his views on the constraints seed companies in Afghanistan face.

The course ended with the distribution of certificates to participants. “The training was very timely and will be immensely beneficial to Afghanistan’s maize seed industry,” commented Qudratullah Soofizada, ARIA Advisor.

Participant organizations included ARIA, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), private seed enterprises, the World Bank’s Afghan Agricultural Input Project (AAIP), Afghanistan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the United States Agency for International Development’s Afghanistan Agriculture Extension Project (AAEP) and Kabul University. 



More news from: CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center)


Website: http://www.cimmyt.org

Published: May 19, 2015

The news item on this page is copyright by the organization where it originated
Fair use notice

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Archive of the news section


Copyright @ 1992-2024 SeedQuest - All rights reserved