Hybrid Maize As Panacea For Improved Seed Yield

Hybrid Maize farmer

Maize was introduced into Africa in the 1500s and has since become one of Africa’s dominant food crops. Like many other regions, it is consumed as a vegetable although it is a grain crop. The grains are rich in vitamins A, C and E, carbohydrates, and essential minerals, and contain 9 percent protein. They are also rich in dietary fibre and calories which are a good source of energy.


Maize is the most important cereal crop in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and an important staple food for more than 1.2 billion people in SSA and Latin America. All parts of the crop can be used for food and non-food products. In industrialized countries, maize is largely used as livestock feed and as a raw material for industrial products. Maize accounts for 30−50 percent of low-income household expenditures in Eastern and Southern Africa. A heavy reliance on maize in the diet, however, can lead to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency diseases such as night blindness and kwashiorkor.

Worldwide production of maize is 785 million tons, with the largest producer, the United States, producing 42 percent. Africa produces 6.5 percent and the largest African producer is Nigeria with nearly 8 million tons, followed by South Africa. Africa imports 28 percent of the required maize from countries outside the continent.

Most maize production in Africa is rain fed. Irregular rainfall can trigger famines during occasional droughts.
However, various species of stem borers rank as the most devastating maize pests in SSA. They can cause 20-40 percent losses during cultivation and 30-90 percent losses postharvest and during storage. Other pests in SSA include ear borers, armyworms, cutworms, grain moths, beetles, weevils, grain borers, rootworms, and white grubs. The parasitic Striga weed is another maize pest. In fact, weed-related yield losses ranging from 65 to 92 percent have been recorded in the Nigerian savanna.

Maize diseases in SSA include downy mildew, rust, leaf blight, stalk and ear rots, leaf spot, and maize streak virus (MSV). Maize does not tolerate drought well and the grain can rot during storage in tropical climates. A lack of sunshine and nitrogen can reduce the production potential of the crop.

According to 2007 FAO estimates, 158 million hectares of maize are harvested worldwide. Africa harvests 29 million hectares, with Nigeria, the largest producer in SSA, harvesting 3 per cent, followed by Tanzania.
Speaking at the launch of three high yielding conventional maize hybrid brands by Monsanto Nigeria in Abuja, the business development manager of the company, Mr Kehinde Johnson, said the agricultural company had introduced three hybrid varieties of DEKALD maize to tackle the constraints faced by farmers in maize farming, saying the introduction of maize hybrids in the country would assist Nigerian farmers optimize their production, earnings and ultimately increase profitability.

He said the launch of the hybrid seeds followed their registration by the national committee on naming, registration and release of crop varieties, livestock breeds and fisheries in February 2016, adding Monsanto Nigeria engaged over 300 small holder farmers in Hadejia Local Government Area of Jigawa State to produce her first batch of DK234, DK818 and DK920 under dry season planting. The company, according to him, provided the farmers with necessary inputs supported by a guaranteed by-back scheme in place.
He said: “Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids.

“The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to maize streak virus, rust and Striga hermonthica while the yellow maize hybrids DK920 and DK818 both have yield potential of 10 tonnes per hectare and are adapted for the South and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies. The two yellow hybrids are also tolerant to maize streak virus, rust, leaf blight, curvularia leaf spot, and Striga hermonthica.”

He added that Monsanto Nigeria aligned with the government policy of promoting local seed production, as a long term strategic investor and partner in the country’s agricultural industry.

Earlier in his remarks, the director-general of the National Seed Council of Nigeria (NSCN), Mr Phillip Ojo, said Nigeria produces 70 percent of maize seeds in the West African region, making it the seed-leading nation of the sub region.

He noted that the launch of three high yielding conventional maize hybrid brands by Monsanto was a step towards food sustainability in the country.

While the council plays regulatory roles in seed multiplication and cultivation, he urged the company to carry out aggressive sensitisation to the framers on the need to buy into the seed ideology.

According to him, nobody promotes some of the global brands that are making wave across the world today, adding it is the company that does sensitisation and campaigns.

He said: “The responsibility of the regulator is to ensure that the quality of seeds dished out is good, and that we have to tell our farmers that it is of good quality and that the yield will be good.”

In his remarks, the president of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, commended Mosanto on the launch of the three maize hybrids for Nigerian farmers, adding the average farmer was desirous of increasing his yield with the right varieties.

He said: “Our rating of Mosanto hybrid maize here today is very high, as the Nigerian farmer is looking for good seed that will bring prospect to him. Very soon, I hope they will embrace it, and that is why we came.”