Seeds account for a significant part of production costs. Sometimes, you may wonder why you would need to buy the seeds every season instead of just using the grains you harvested in the previous season. However, there is more in the certified seeds you purchase from the agrovets and seed stockists beyond the red coating on them.
Provided they are genuine, these seeds have undergone a stringent production process before they are released for sale. These processes are among the reasons why certified seeds cost more than grain seeds you buy from food stores.
Below are the reasons why you should consider certified seeds.
1. Certified Seeds are Clean
Certified seeds are clean seeds. The production and processing take place under strict limitations on weeds and other crops. Therefore, you can have a guarantee that the seeds are free from contaminants. For instance, wild oats can be a great problem if introduced into your wheat field. Such weeds are minimized when producing certified seeds.
2. Certified Seeds have Undergone Genetic Improvement
Certified seeds have genetically improved traits. Examples of improved traits in the seeds include enhanced pest and disease resistance, herbicide tolerance, and increased yield. Introducing these traits into a variety takes years of research and development.
For instance, the 6213-maize variety from Kenya Seed Company has tolerance to grey leaf spots, ear rot, leaf blight, and rust. H614D maize variety is tolerant to blight.
3. You will Maximize Other Inputs
Crop production in Kenya today requires a significant investment. These include the cost of fertilizer, agrochemicals, and labour. It would be a waste to invest your resources in a seed that doesn’t guarantee you a good yield. Using certified seed is an assurance of the best genetics. If you don’t get a top crop, at least you won’t blame it on the seed.
4. Your Buyers Could Demand Specific Variety
The end user or buyer may require a specific variety. For instance, if you are doing French bean production and your buyer wants the Vanilla variety, the only assurance you have is purchasing a certified seed.
5. Certified Seeds are Pure
Certified seeds have a high standard of varietal purity due to the strict monitoring of quality management systems during production. The agencies responsible for the production have a keen eye on quality which helps minimize other varieties and off-types.
If you are planting variety X, you have a guarantee that indeed it is the one you are planting. Some of the quality management practices include conducting third-party field inspections, and prescribing isolation distances to minimize contamination during harvest.
What Happens When You Replant Your Seed
You may wonder why experts advise you to buy certified seeds yet you can save the seeds you harvested from the last harvest and plant the next season.
Let us use H6213 as an example. So, you planted the H6213 maize variety but now due to seed shortage in the market, high cost of the seed, or other reasons, you select seeds from your previous harvest. You take the seeds and even protect them from pests by coating them with the best seed dressing chemical available in the market.
Well, the seeds will grow and to some extent, we can be safe to say that you can get a great harvest. However, you must realize that despite the seeds coming from a harvest of the H6213 maize variety, they are not the same as the original ones you bought. Therefore, you have no guarantee to get the maize plants you had with the original seed. You need to understand how the H6213 variety came to be.
As a hybrid, it is a cross between different plant varieties. When you replant the seeds, you get the parents that produced the hybrid. However, you can still get a small percentage of plants that are identical to the H6213 variety. That is why, the only sure way you get plants with the promised qualities of a certain hybrid variety is to buy certified seeds for planting every season.
While certified seeds are relatively costly, they are worth it. Farming is an investment and it’s better to start right. You can’t afford to make a mistake in the planting material you use. Although planting certified seeds isn’t all you need to get high yields, it is one of the key ingredients.