Zambia Seed Company Limited (Zamseed) has revealed that the good rainfall that has been experienced this year has recharged water tables and dams across the country, and this is expected to result in an increase of about 40% in wheat production.
The leading and oldest seed producer in Zambia further stated that the recently developed Harrier wheat variety has received positive feedback from farmers as it is one of the highly sought out varieties on the market.
Zamseed Director of Research Dr. Bhola Verma said the seed is of high quality, produces a highEd yield and farmers are able to harvest about 9 tonnes of wheat per hectare because there is no crop loss that will be experienced.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Verma said the harrier seed does not lodge or lay down on the ground no matter how much one irrigates or fertilises and this in turn leads to high yields and makes it easy to harvest because it remains standing.
Verma said the variety has good grain quality and is dependent on how much water and fertiliser one applies to it. He revealed that availability of water can be a challenge sometimes due to low rainfall which leads to water tables not been recharged and this may result in low production because some farmers end up reducing the planting area.
He however noted that due to the good rainfall that has been experienced this year, water tables have been recharged and dams are full, therefore it is expected that wheat production will increase by about 40% compared to the past three years as water was a limitation.
Verma further told ZBT that there are currently two dominating varieties on the market which are harrier and shungu which are selling very well. He also said that there is need for the wider market usage so people can benefit from the variety as Zambia has some of the best yields in the region.
He noted that a new wheat variety called falcon was introduced on the market last month and is also on high demand. He said the falcon seed variety is better than harrier in grain quality, has a higher yield and has less damage because of the long horns which destruct birds.
The Zamseed Director of Research added that when you increase the height of the crop, you get better yield too. He said that the new falcon wheat variety contains 14% protein and 35% gluten, which has market benefits.
