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Enepa Ventures, an agri-input manufacturing, supply and distribution company, has introduced advanced maize seeds, known as the SC 719 hybrid, into the Ghanaian market to help farmers increase yield.

According to the company, the new maize seed it imported into the country, was able to withstand drought and all other weather conditions.

“It has demonstrated to do extremely well in hot weather conditions and even in times when there is little rainfall,” the Group Managing Director of Enepa Ventures, Mr Ernest Akwasi Appiah, told some journalists in Accra last Monday.

He described the hybrid seed as a more improved seed over other traditional varieties and yielded bigger grains.

Climate, disease resilient

Mr Appiah further explained that SC719 was a late maturing seed, ranging between 115 and 120 days. He added that the new variety had no or very minimal percentage of diseases, making it more productive for farmers.

The group managing director said the maize variety currently boasted of the highest yiselds among the various seed varieties, with about 10 tonnes and 12 tonnes per hectare.

Yields in Ghana are usually low at between two tonnes and six tonnes per hectare.

He said the variety of seed was a fitting alternative to better deal with the changing climate. 

“The stress tolerance of the seed has been improved and enhanced in our quest to import and introduce seeds that align with our climate conditions. The seed has high adaptability and nitrogen use efficiency,” Mr Appiah stated.

He further emphasised the company had no doubt the product would develop a better plant type that would grow in any culture or environment, yet still be more productive.

‘’In a period where resilience and sustainability were at the centre of farm growth, the maize seed, SC719, had come at a more appropriate time as outcomes from continuous trials had demonstrated the ability of the seeds to produce the right quantity of yield, even with lower fertiliser application and less water’’, Mr Appiah stated.

He said farmers would greatly benefit from the new maize seeds as it had proven to deliver high productivity, which was essential for agriculture value chain partnerships towards sustainability.

The Enepa Ventures group managing director added that the seed would further create opportunities and strengthen networks along the value chain such as input suppliers, farmers, marketers, manufacturers, traders, consumers among others.

PFJ

According Enepa, the imported imported SC 719 had been tested and approved by the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Division of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for sale and distribution under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) campaign, saying “SC719 Maize seeds is currently available at Enepa Ventures Offices in Kumasi and at AMG Fertilisers offices in Accra.”

While urging input dealer shops across the country to stock the seed in the outlets, Mr Appiah also encouraged maize farmers to look out for the high-yielding and climate resilient seed.

Pedigree

Enepa Ventures has been operating in the country for more than 15 years at the forefront of growing the agricultural sector in the country through the importation, distribution and supply of quality agri-inputs to farmers across the 16 regions of Ghana and other West African countries.

The company also feeds the market with its brand of fertilisers and weedicides.