The importance of quality maize for farmers in Myanzi

26-03-2014 The quality of produce that a farmer attempts to achieve is clearly dependent upon the target market. At the village market the quality criteria may be very rudimentary and it is only when farmers attempt to sell to larger market players that investment in quality brings financial return. Besides being aware of the advantages of quality, farmers in Myanzi and Nalutuntu have been trained and given knowledge about how they can achieve the important quality attributes. This has been the emphasis of the Myanzi Area Cooperative Enterprise (ACE) agricultural staff to see farmers' contribution to maize produce quality. Farmers have benefited from this approach by agreeing to grow the same high yielding and early maturity variety of maize (K153 Hybrid) to ensure uniform quality, cooperation to improve quality to meet the needs of the specified market and milling the maize into flour and packing it in a standard way to attract a higher price.

The following is some of what has been done to achieve tremendous results:

Length of time in the field

The maize crop is left in the field until it is mature and then harvested without delay to avoid insect infestation. Farmers have harvested simultaneously where possible to ensure uniformity of the maize crop.

Maize threshing method

Maize can be shelled from cobs by various methods. The difference between methods relate to their costs and the proportion of the grain that becomes broken, which is a significant quality factor. Threshing by beating cobs in a bag is very damaging to the grain while hand shelling is slow and tedious. Myanzi ACE has provided access of well-adjusted mechanical threshing machines to all its RPOs and this gives them a distinct advantage in being able to produce a uniform product without an excessive proportion of broken grains.

Grain drying

Most farmers are aware that grain must be dried for good storage and many have an area close to their house that is used for sun drying. There is a temptation to market moister grain as this is no longer the farmers’ responsibility and in any case the grain may be consumed quickly. The farmers’ own stocks for long-term storage tend to be looked after rather better. Myanzi ACE is proud for successful collective marketing of the maize in flour form; farmers have coordinated their drying activities so that they produce a reasonably uniform product within the market limits.