Kenya: ADC and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute unveil new maize seed variety

The Kenya Agricultural Development Corporation(ADC) in collaboration with Kenya Agricultural Research institute has unveiled a new maize seed variety.

The seed was recently unveiled by agriculture cabinet secretary Felix Koskei and ADC managing director Andrew Tuimur. Tuimur said the new seed, KH600-23A hybrid is disease resistant with characteristics similar to those of hybrid 614 variety and is suitable for high altitude areas such as Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru among others.

The ADC boss said the seed, which was developed after three years of research matures after just five months and is already in the market.

He urged the ministry of agriculture to allocate more funds to the corporation for more research. The availability of the seed comes after a maize necrosis disease affected more than 10,000 acres of maize in Rift valley, Nyanza and Eastern provinces.

Last year, KARI assured farmers that it was tirelessly working to produce drought and disease resistant maize seed.

"We urge the farmers to try the new variety because the two institutions well researched to ensure the maize resist diseases and can survive even during minimal rains" said Tuimur.

Koskei said the unveiling of the seed is a milestone towards boosting the country's food security.

He said the ministry of agriculture has budgeted for a million acres for irrigation of maize, rice and sugarcane.