The maize seed industry in Zimbabwe

Rusike, Joseph; Donovan, P.A.

doi:10.1080/03768359508439804

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…110 It received strong political support from the roughly 5,000 white commercial farmers, and a Seed Maize Association of commercial farmers was highly effective in seed production and dissemination. 111 A major breakthrough was the release of the very successful hybrid SR52 in 1960, the world's first single-cross commercial hybrid, with significantly higher yields than the standard double cross. 112 The political economy was strongly biased towards white commercial farmers, who occupied the most favoured lands, and initial impact on the roughly one million African smallholders was low.…”

Section: Latin America: Building On Indigenous Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The globalization of hybrid maize, 1921–70

Byerlee

2020

Journal of Global History

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Well before the green revolution in the 1960s, hybrid maize technology that had originally been developed in the USA spread across the world, starting before the Second World War. This article uses a framework that analyses the type of transfer (materials, knowledge, or capacity), the roles of diverse actors, and farmer demand and its market context, to trace the diffusion of hybrid technology to Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Africa up to 1970. The article also highlights the importance of access to diverse germplasm from the Americas provided by indigenous farmers. A handful of US public institutions promoted the spread of hybrid technology, with US private seed companies sometimes playing a secondary role. However, most cases of successful transfer were led by national scientists embedded in local institutions, who were able to link to local seed systems and farmers. By the mid 1970s, the aggregate impacts of these efforts were of the same magnitude as for the well-known and much publicized green revolution wheat varieties. Nonetheless, adoption of hybrid maize across and within countries was very patchy, relating to differences in scientific capacity, type of farmer, agro-ecology, and complementary investments in seed systems and extension. Consequently, impacts were often highly inequitable.

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Section: Latin America: Building On Indigenous Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The globalization of hybrid maize, 1921–70

Byerlee

2020

Journal of Global History

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“…Zimbabwe has a long history of maize genetic improvement. In 1948, Zimbabwe was the first country in Africa to commercialize maize hybrids ( Rusike and Donovan, 1995 ) and has commercialized the world’s first single-cross hybrids in 1960 ( Derera and Musimwa, 2015 ; Musimwa and Derera, 2017 ). At present, Zimbabwe has the highest share of adoption of maize hybrids in SSA ( Krishna et al., 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1932, the focus was shifted to the development of hybrid maize. The first maize hybrid registered by the program in 1948 was a top cross produced between an inbred N4 and an OPV ( Mashingaidze, 2006 ), which became the first maize hybrid to be released in SSA ( Rusike and Donovan, 1995 ). Three double-cross maize hybrids (SR11, SR13, and SR14) were subsequently released in 1949.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic trends in the Zimbabwe’s national maize breeding program over two decades

Mukaro,

Chaingeni,

Sneller

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Monitoring genetic gains within breeding programs is a critical component for continuous improvement. While several national breeding programs in Africa have assessed genetic gain using era studies, this study is the first to use two decades of historical data to estimate genetic trends within a national breeding program. The objective of this study was to assess genetic trends within the final two stages of Zimbabwe’s Department of Research & Specialist Services maize breeding pipeline between 2002 and 2021. Data from 107 intermediate and 162 advanced variety trials, comprising of 716 and 398 entries, respectively, was analyzed. Trials were conducted under optimal, managed drought stress, low nitrogen stress, low pH, random stress, and disease pressure (maize streak virus (MSV), grey leaf spot (GLS), and turcicum leaf blight under artificial inoculation. There were positive and significant genetic gains for grain yield across management conditions (28–35 kg ha-1 yr-1), under high-yield potential environments (17–61 kg ha-1 yr-1), and under low-yield potential environments (0–16 kg ha-1 yr-1). No significant changes were observed in plant and ear height over the study period. Stalk and root lodging, as well as susceptibility to MSV and GLS, significantly decreased over the study period. New breeding technologies need to be incorporated into the program to further increase the rate of genetic gain in the maize breeding programs and to effectively meet future needs.

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“…States and South Africa (Rusike and Donovan 1995) (Havazvidi and Tattersfield, 2006;Smale and Jayne, 2004). According to , the single-cross maize hybrid went on to become a sought after hybrid across Africa.…”

Section: History Of Maize Improvement In Zimbabwementioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the genetic basis of high yield potential of a new maize hybrid, "exphybrid6"

Senzere

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The maize seed industry in Zimbabwe

Cited by 14 publications

References 1 publication

The globalization of hybrid maize, 1921–70

The globalization of hybrid maize, 1921–70

Genetic trends in the Zimbabwe’s national maize breeding program over two decades

Investigation of the genetic basis of high yield potential of a new maize hybrid, "exphybrid6"

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