Peacock aids Blantyre ADD with 13 metric tons of maize seed

In a quest to help farmers affected by drought in some parts of southern region, Peacock Seed Company on Thursday donated 13 Metric Tons of maize seed to Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (ADD) worthy K21 million for winter cropping.

Kaunda speaking during the event
.Blantyre ADD Deputy Programs Manager Annley Msukwa: Many farmers are really affected.
Official hand over for the seed

Some of the farmers  affected are from Thyolo, Blantyre, Neno, Mwanza, Nsanje, Chikwawa and Phalombe districts.

Speaking during the donation in Phalombe, Peacock seed finance and administration manager Charles  Kaunda said the donation is part of their corporate social responsibility.

Kaunda said the seed will help those farmers planning to do irrigation farming and challenged them for bumper yields saying  the donated seed is  drought tolerant and disease resistant.

“As a company, we wanted to contribute to government efforts by helping farmers who have been affected by drought. We have donated Peacock MH30 maize variety which is drought tolerant and disease resistant and we are optimistic that farmers will also like its performance.

“The seed that we have donated is enough for 650 Hectors of Land and if properly managed under irrigation it can produce about 6500 Metric tons,” he said

He said Peacock is one of the local companies that have come up with certified hybrid maize seed that is coming a darling for a lot of commercial farmers as its perfomance is unbeatable compared to other seeds on the market.

“Our maize seed varieties have been a preference for many farmers and due to its perfomance, farmers have given them names including Ngenge, Mtupatupa and Matumbamatumba refering to MH30,Peacock 10 and Cap9001 respectively.

“As Peacock, we are aiming at producing more seeds that will be enough for farmers across the country so that they can also benefit,” he said.

He, therefore, appealed to Ministry of Agriculture to make sure that irrigation systems are properly functioning  and that extension workers have maximized their contact with farmers for better farming outcomes.

Peacock seeds Southern Region Territory Manager Rollands Chikaonda commended government for the fruitful Agriculture Input Program (AIP) saying many farmers have benefited.

However, Chikaonda said there is a need to use AIP in promoting the uptake Certified Hybrid seed for more yield.

“What AIP has produced could have been more if many farmers prefered Hybrid seed. Our fellow federation members like Zambia and Zimbabwe are doing very well for adopting hybrid,” he said.

Blantyre ADD deputy programs manager Annley Msukwa hailed Peacock Seed for the timely donation of the seed saying 56000 hectors of land is affected and about 282 Metric tons of seed is needed to help the farmers whose only alternative is to  go into irrigation farming.

“A lot of farmers in Blantyre ADD were affected and the only alternative is to go for irrigation farming.

“We thank peacock for coming at this point to help those farmers who were affected and  we don’t take this donation for granted because it will make the difference,” he said

During the function scores of farmers have described Peacock seeds maize varieties as a right choice in achieving breakthrough commercial farming.

According to Phalombe-based farmer Twalibu Ali said  Seeds from Peacock best suit in the country’s environment saying though some farmers are affected by the drought ,he is not worried because he has gotten more harvest.

“Last growing season, I planted MH30 from the company, in the first place I thought I would yield nothing following intermittent rains in Phalombe last year, but to my surprise, the crop survived,” he said.

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John Lungu
John Lungu
2 years ago

Great job Peacock, Congratulations.

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