A feasibility study on the complementarity of quality and genetic tests on seed certification: lessons from the hybrid maize in Malawi

Author:

Hunga Henry Geoffrey1ORCID,Soon-Sinclair Jan Mei2

Affiliation:

1. University of Malawi

2. University of Central Lancashire

Abstract

Abstract At $1.5 billion the African seed sector accounts for 3.5 per cent of the global seed market. The growth is attributed to economic reforms and African countries adopting market-oriented policies promoting the private sector role and regional integration. However, smallholder farmers have reported poor quality certified seeds on the market. Therefore, this feasibility study sought to prove the existence of counterfeit hybrid maize seeds on the market in Malawi. Using the mystery shopper approach 37 hybrid maize seed samples were bought from agro-dealers and eight reference seed samples from the parent seed companies in three districts of Mchinji, Dowa, and Lilongwe. The agro-dealers were categorised whether licenced or not using the Seed Trade Association database. This was followed by quality and genetic purity using simple sequence repeat (SSR) tests. Results show that only 34% of the agro-dealers where the seed samples were procured were licensed by the government. Quality tests showed that the seeds were within the acceptable range for germination, moisture content, and purity percentage. However, genetic variation results showed that only one of the 37 samples matched the reference seed sample and the rest of the samples exhibited heterozygosity traits not matching the reference samples or similar lines.

Publisher

Research Square Platform LLC

Reference74 articles.

1. Agenbag G (2012) Genetic Characterisation and Fine Mapping of Sources of Durable Resistance to Stripe Rust in

2. Selected Wheat Genotypes. (PhD). University of the Free State, South Africa

3. Ashour M, Billings L, Gilligan D, Hoel JB, Karachiwalla N (2016) Do beliefs about agricultural inputs counterfeiting correspond with actual rates of counterfeting? Evidence from Uganda. In. IFPRI Discussion Paper: IFPRI

4. Ashour M, Billings L, Gilligan DO, Karachiwalla N (2015) Evaluation of the impact of e-verification on counterfeit agricultural inputs and technology adoption in Uganda. Retrieved from Washington, D.C.

5. Do Beliefs About Herbicide Quality Correspond with Actual Quality in Local Markets? Evidence from Uganda;Ashour M;J Dev Stud,2018

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3