Selecting seeds and storing them for next season with agroecological principles

Signature tune up then under.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today’s program, where we are going to learn about selecting and storing seeds for next season with agroecological techniques.

To talk about it, I visited Mr. Emmanuel Kakore, a farmer who lives in Kisiwani village, Same District in the Kilimanjaro Region of northern Tanzania. Emmanuel Kakore has practiced agroecological farming for about nine years.

But before I speak with him, I will speak with a district extension officer, Mr. Omary Mhina.

Good morning, Mr. Omary, and thank you for your time. I am here to ask you a few questions about selecting seeds and storing them for next season with agroecological techniques.

But first, what are the most commonly grown crops in your district?

Same district is grouped into three agroecological zones: lowland, middle land and upper land, and farmers commonly grow maize, beans, sunflowers, sorghum, cassava, potatoes, fruit trees, and vegetables. Coffee is mostly grown in the middle land zone, and rice in the lowland zone.

What is the best time for cultivation in your area?

Mostly, the agricultural season starts in September and October, though due to changes in the weather patterns, the season may now start in November and December. So the harvesting time may be from April to June.

What is agroecological farming?

Agroecological farming is a practice of ecosystem farming in which farmers do not use industrial fertilizers nor pesticides. It preserves and respects the relationship of all living organisms and their environment to achieve positive results. Instead of industrial inputs, it applies natural and/or biopesticides and biofertilizers resulting from the decomposition of living organisms and animal manure. This is environmentally friendly as it does not harm the soil or crops, and is safe for consumers and for other living creatures.

What is the difference between agroecological farming and conventional farming when it comes to selecting and storing seeds?

Most farmers prefer to use seeds selected from agroecological farming for next season. In this situation, someone who doesn’t have seeds may get or buy them from a neighbour because farmers normally exchange or share the seeds. A knowledgeable farmer normally selects the healthiest plants for seeds, allow them to dry properly, and then sorting and grading them before storage. Those who prefer improved varieties normally buy them from the agro-shops. The difference is that seeds selected and stored according to the principles of agroecological farming can be stored for a long time and still be useful, if stored properly.

How do you help farmers select and store seeds?

I advise them to have a special plot for growing seeds, especially maize and bean seeds. The whole harvest from this plot is selected, dried, packed, and stored as seeds for next season.

How do farmers handle seeds for storage?

For beans, once crops are properly matured and ready to be dried in the field in preparation for harvesting, the leaves turn from greenish to yellowish or brownish. Farmers then uproot the plants and spread the harvested crops on a flat surface like a floor, flat rock, or on canvas. They leave the crops to completely dry in the sun for some days, depending on the how dry the crops were when harvested and the local weather conditions.

Threshing removes the bean seeds from the pods when they are dry, and can be done in at least two different ways. First, if there are just a few crops, farmers just hold the roots and bang the plants on a hard object or surface. And second, farmers can gather the whole dried crop and beat it with a heavy stick.

After threshing, farmers winnow beans in order to remove all foreign bodies, debris, or chaff. This method is also used when selecting maize grains.

Farmers begin selecting seeds while the crops are growing. And seed selection continues until saved seeds are stored, focusing on particular characteristics. Saved and stored seeds should be large in size, healthy-looking free of pest and disease damage, and sufficiently dry.

How do farmers sort good grains?

While winnowing seeds in the wind, all the malformed, infested, and damaged seeds are removed. If they remain, they are just removed by hand, and then the selected seeds are ready for storage.

How about maize? How do farmers select good maize seeds?

Like other crops, seed selection starts when the crops are still on the farm. The most preferred crops are those in the middle of the farm in order to reduce the effect of cross-pollination from nearby maize farms. It is recommended that maize to be saved as seed be harvested when it is fully mature. After harvesting, some farmers take the whole maize plant including the leaves, and put it on their kitchen roofs. Then, when they cook, the smoke from the firewood kills the pests that can invade maize grains. But most farmers harvest the maize when it has dried in the field and the leaves have turned brown. They remove the cobs and dry them in the sun for about three days, depending on the weather. I teach them to divide the cob into three parts: A, B, and C.

“A” is the part that is attached to the maize stalk. “B” is the middle part and the one we recommend to be used as seeds, and “C” is the other part. Seeds in “B” should be as big as “A” and “C” together. Grains on part A and C are often small in size, and are therefore not suitable to be stored as seeds. But the grains on part B are big and healthy and hence good for being stored as seeds.

How do farmers store the seeds they select for next season?

Farmers usually use normal storage sacks sold in shops or agro-shops, with a carrying capacity of 80 to 120 kilograms. They pack the maize or bean seeds and store the sacks in a special storage room at home—either in a separate room from their stored crops or in a separate part of the same storage room. If they want to sell the saved seeds, farmers put them in a sack that holds 10 or 20 kilograms. They don’t sell the maize cobs that are placed on kitchen roofs.

How long can the seeds be stored and still be viable?

Most farmers keep enough seeds to last just for six months till the next season, but they can be kept for 24 months. If they are not invaded by pests, stored seeds can be useful for two farming seasons.

How do you advise farmers to fight against pests and diseases and keep the seeds safe?

I advise them to use local and environmentally-friendly methods like biopesticides to fight pests and diseases, for instance, pouring ashes on crop leaves that have been attacked by pests.

Also, farmers can grind leaves from the neem tree (Azadirachta indica) and chili plant and add them to water. This can be sprayed on maize and bean grains before storage to protect against pests. But the sprayed seeds must be dried well prior to storing them.

What challenges do farmers face in selecting and storing seeds?

One challenge is a lack of equipment for storing the biopesticides that they make. Farmers don’t have appropriate storage facilities, so they use locally-available materials such as normal water bottles. Also, for making local pesticides, farmers don’t have equipment to measure the quantity of the ingredients for locally-made pesticides. Hence, they just approximate the quantities of the pesticide ingredients.

Thanks, Mr. Omary, for your time and contribution.

Thanks very much and you are welcome.

short piece of music, then fade out.

Dear listeners, it’s my great expectation that you have learnt a lot from Mr. Omary, the extension officer. Let me now take you to Emmanuel Kakore for more about farmers’ perspectives on farmer-managed seed systems.

Emmanuel Kakore is a farmer who lives in Kisiwani village, Same District, in Kilimanjaro Region, northern Tanzania. He has practiced agroecological farming for about nine years.

Good morning, Emmanuel Kakore. I want to ask you a few questions about selecting and storing seeds for next season in agroecological ways.

What crops do you grow?

I mostly grow maize, beans, cassava, and banana.

How do you select and store seeds for next season?

First, I have a special plot of about a half-acre to grow seeds for next season. For maize and beans, when it’s harvest time and the seeds are dry in the field, we harvest and dry them in the sun. When they are dry enough, we mix them with local pesticides to protect them against pest infestations, and we pack and store them safely for next season. We also sell some to other farmers during the farming season.

When is the best time for cultivating your seed plot?

The short rainy season starts at the end of September or October, but due to changes in the weather, nowadays the season may start in November, December, or January. So, when the rains start, farmers plant and then prepare for other practices like weeding, gap filling or thinning, earthing up, managing pests and diseases, noting that all inputs conform to agroecological principles.

What is the best time for harvesting and selecting seeds?

I first consider the weather conditions, because when the rains end, they are followed by winter time, and there is not enough sun for drying crops. For maize, I tend to bend down the maize plants to prevent the grains from decaying due to the rains.

So when the weather is good with enough sunny periods in a day, I harvest my crops and dry them for three to five days, depending on how much sun there is in a day.

What are the procedures for harvesting seeds, especially maize?

When maize is dry in the field and the leaves turns brown, this is a sign that it’s time to harvest. I cut off the cobs, leaving the maize plants in the field, and then I take the harvest home. We remove the cobs and, if the weather is good, we dry them in the sun on a canvas for some days.

How do you handle seeds to be saved?

When the maize is dry enough, I sort the cobs and separate those with big grains from those with small grains. I sort the maize seeds by dividing each cob into three parts, in other words, removing the smaller upper and lower portions. I take the middle part, which mostly has larger and better grains than the other two parts, and these are the seeds I store for next season.

How do you know when the seeds have dried enough to be stored?

We often use methods like pouring the grains on the floor and listening to the sound they produce. When the grains are dry enough to store, they make a distinct sound and scatter widely. Apart from that, one can bite some grains and notice if they are dry enough. We also put a small amount of salt in a transparent bottle with the seeds and leave the bottle for twelve hours. If the salt liquefies, it means that the seeds are not dry enough. But if the salt has not liquefied, then we know that the seeds are dry and ready for storage.

What kind of storage facilities do you use?

It is very challenging as we don’t have special advanced storage facilities. Instead, we use local containers like sacks. We put the seeds in sacks, we arrange pieces of wood on the floor, and then we lay the sacks on the wood. This helps protect the seeds from absorbing moisture from the floor.

I also buy small sacks that store 10 or 20 kilograms, and I store seeds that I intend to sell in these sacks. I also use plastic storage containers like buckets.

How effective are the storage containers you use?

Actually, they are effective—we can keep seeds for a long time without any problem. What is needed is to protect seeds from moisture. So I make sure that the room I store seeds in is always closed and the floor does not generate moisture, especially when I store seeds in sacks.

How long can the seeds be stored and still be viable?

If stored well and safely, and no pests and small animals like rodents invade, seeds can be useful for about three seasons without any problem. But as I store seeds after every harvest, I use these seeds for the coming season and sell any extra seeds.

How do you protect the seeds to make sure they are viable for next season?

The important thing is to protect seeds against pests like maize weevils, vermin such as rodents, and moisture. So we make local pesticides that we spray on seeds before storage to protect against pests. I make sure that the room where I store seeds is moisture-free, and that the floor and window do not allow moisture to reach seeds.

What are the local pesticides that you use to control seed pests?

I use leaves of the neem tree, hot pepper, wild sunflowers, garlic, and cow urine.

How do you prepare your pesticides?

For the cow urine, we collect it and store it in buckets for twenty-one days. Then we grind wild sunflowers and garlic and add them to water and stir together with the cow urine that has been stored for 21 days, and then we use it as a pesticide.

Apart from that, we grind neem leaves with wild sunflowers, and mix with water then stir, and use the liquid solution as a pesticide.

We also prepare pesticides in powder form. The ingredients are ash from burnt cow dung mixed with maize or other grains, hot pepper powder, and dried neem leaf powder. You mix them together at the ratio of 1:1:1. Then you mix 250 gm of the powder with 20 kg of seeds

Sound effect or music, then fade out

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end of our program. We have heard how farmers select and store seeds for next season in agroecological farming in the Same district of the Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania.

We heard from Mr. Omary Mhina, an extension officer and agricultural expert in the area, and we heard from Mr. Emmanuel Kakore, a farmer who selects and stores his seeds for next season in his practice of agroecological agriculture.

We hope you have learned many things during this program. Thank you and have a nice day.