Seed priming makes good stands of maize the rule rather than the exception. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Principally based on Projects R6395, R7189 (CPP), R7440 and R7438. Even when maize is irrigated, good crop stands are the exception rather than the rule for poor farmers. Yet, simply soaking seeds in water overnight and drying them before sowing as usual has been proven to increase yields in India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Nepal. In western India, where maize is often followed by another crop, priming means that maize can be harvested earlier. This gives farmers a chance to sow the second crop earlier and makes the most of the end of the rains. Hundreds of NGOs, farmers and researchers have asked for instructions on how to prime maize seed. Through these, priming maize seed has spread to Thailand, Myanmar, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact, Annex. Attached PDF (12 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
PSP28, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 13.