Farmers assured of adequate hybrid seeds

Kenya Seed Company (KCS) has assured farmers of adequate quality maize seed for this year’s planting season.

Managing Director Azariah Soi (pictured) said the company has coded all its hybrid seeds as a measure of quality and dismissed claims that the seeds released to the market were sub-standard.

Speaking in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County at the weekend, Mr Soi assured maize farmers that the firm has enough stock to meet local demand.

“What we are selling to farmers is clean and certified maize seeds. We are not producing substandard ones as claimed by some individuals,’’ said the MD.

Coded seeds

The company, he said, has in stock 30 million kilogrammes of maize seeds to meet local demand and also for export.

“We have enough stock of 30,000 tonness to meet the local demand and export to Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda,’’ he said.

He asked farmers to make sure they buy the coded seeds to avoid fake products.

Soi said KSC was working closely with the Kenya Plant and Health Inspectorate Service (Kephis) to ensure farmers get high quality seeds for better yields.

“It has been our tradition to ensure farmers access certified seeds and we are working closely with Kephis to ensure farmers get genuine seeds,’’ he added.