| Abstract |
Maize is Pakistan’s third most important cereal crop covering an annual area of 1.12 million hectares. Maize in Pakistan is showing an increasing trend both in area and productivity (PBS, 2013). The demand for feed is the driving force for the expansion of maize in Pakistan. However, population increase and price hikes for other crops makes maize as a preferred food by many rural communities, particularly in the Khyber PakhtunKhwa (KPK) province. Despite its positive trend in recent past, maize faces many challenges including but not limited to lack of suitable varieties particularly climate resilient varieties, pests and diseases, lack of good agronomic practices, high maize seed price and absence of a functional and vibrant seed system, among others. Although Pakistan’s maize production showed a 76% growth in the last 20 years, mainly due to seed sector reform of 1994 and good performance of imported hybrids, well over 50% of Pakistan’s maize area is planted with local and low yielding varieties due to lack of access and availability of quality seeds mainly by the smallholder. Pakistan imports more than 85 % of hybrid maize seed annually which makes the unit price of seed very much costly for the smallholder. Interventions in increasing local capacity in hybrid varieties development and deployment will not only help expansion of maize based technologies but also will save the much needed foreign currency for the country. Recent figures show that Pakistan spends nearly USD 50 million for importing of hybrid maize seeds annually. To meet these challenges AIP-maize program developed achievable targets to fast track maize variety development and marketing in Pakistan with the involvement of public and private institutions. This effort eventually helps Pakistan to reduce its import bill and become self-sufficient in maize seeds by enhancing local capacity on the production and marketing of hybrids and varieties. This report aims to highlight achievements, lessons learnt and future directions of the AIP-maize activities. |
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