Online Reporter
Business Writer
THE Government has embraced new high-yielding hybrid seed technologies as part of an aggressive drive to revitalise Zimbabwe’s struggling cotton sector and improve the viability of smallholder farmers.
Mrs Medlinah Magwenzi, Chief Director of Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) in the
Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development, revealed the development during a familiarisation tour of a cotton demonstration plot at the Kadoma Research Centre.
She said the Government was prepared to adopt hybrid technologies as part of efforts to protect rural livelihoods and restore cotton production.
Mrs Magwenzi made the remarks while representing the ministry’s permanent secretary, Professor Obert Jiri, at an event attended by private cotton companies and members of the Cotton Ginners Association. The policy shift comes at a critical time for the sector.
Cotton production has fallen sharply from a peak of 352 000 tonnes in 2011 to about 10 000 tonnes in 2024 and stands at approximately 30 000 tonnes.
Industry data indicates that smallholder productivity has been severely constrained, with average yields hovering at just 0,5 tonnes per hectare.
The decline has been attributed in part to inadequate and delayed input distribution, as well as growing concerns over poor-quality seed supplied to the market by some seed houses.
Industry stakeholders attending the event raised serious concerns about seed quality and the widespread absence of standard handling protocols.
Participants noted that the failure to separate commercial seed from certified planting seed during processing had led to contamination and deterioration of seed quality, resulting in poor germination rates and significantly reduced productivity.
However, experts from Quton Seed revealed during the tour that the company’s newly introduced hybrid seed varieties have the potential to yield up to five tonnes per hectare, substantially outperforming the Open Pollinated Varieties (OPVs) that dominate cotton production.
Acknowledging that hybrid seed generally attracts a premium price, Mrs Magwenzi said the Government would utilise existing support mechanisms, particularly the Presidential Inputs Programme, to ensure the technology is accessible to farmers. To support wider adoption, Quton announced plans to significantly expand its local hybrid seed multiplication programme in a bid to reduce procurement costs.
The localisation process is already under way, with the company targeting the production of 100 tonnes of hybrid seed this year before gradually scaling up local breeding operations.
“This tour has shown a different picture from what we have been seeing in cotton production of late. Farmers will always look at something viable . . . If they manage to produce this way, they can be happy. So, if farmers could learn all these new technologies and tap into them and adopt them, then we’ll be a better cotton production country as we have been before,” Mrs Magwenzi said.
Mrs Magwenzi said that as the rollout gathers momentum, Quton must ensure the hybrid seed is readily available and adapted to Zimbabwe’s different ecological regions.
While the current hybrid seed package is suitable for all cotton-growing areas, with only minor variations in performance depending on location, future breeding programmes will become more targeted.
She said the development of region-specific seed varieties aligns with the Government’s broader drive towards precision agriculture.
Quton director Dr Daniel Mayers urged authorities to strengthen regulation of the seed sector to ensure quality standards are maintained throughout the value chain.
Seed Services — the regulatory department under the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Development — is mandated to register all seed varieties in the country and ensure compliance with quality and certification requirements.
“If we want to save our cotton sector, we must protect the integrity of what goes into the soil. Regulatory authorities must step up enforcement and tightly police the market and must ensure absolute compliance with quality and certification standards. We cannot allow substandard seed to compromise our farmers’ hard work,” said Dr Mayers.
Quton business unit lead for cotton, Mr Kaustubh Joshi, acknowledged that while hybrid seed technology carries higher initial costs, the substantial gains in productivity would more than compensate for the additional expense.
He added that costs are expected to decline significantly as the company transitions from importing seed to local multiplication and breeding.
“We shouldn’t look at the initial price of hybrid seed in isolation, but rather at the massive yield it delivers. The output gains are more than enough to comfortably absorb the higher cost of the technology.
“Furthermore, as we transition from importing these varieties to multiplying them locally right here in Zimbabwe, economies of scale will kick in and drive the prices down for the farmer,” he said.
Mrs Magwenzi noted that while hybrid seed technology has enormous potential to increase yields, its success will depend on the adoption of proper agronomic practices.
To support this objective, she stressed the need to establish demonstration plots across all cotton-growing regions, creating accessible learning centres where farmers can acquire practical knowledge and best-practice production techniques.
