North Cameroon seed multiplication II

The project, to be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture"s (MOA) Food Development Authority (MIDEVIV), Cameroon"s Institute for Agricultural Research (IRA), and a U.S. firm, focuses on constructing seed processing, storage, and testing facilities and developing an extension capacity. To provide high-quality seed to the 163,000 farm families in the World Bank-funded Center North Project (CNP), the Sanguere and Guetele seed farms will be upgraded by the construction of seed processing and storage facilities, small laboratories, and machinery repair facilities and by the provision of equipment to permit mechanization of seed farm operations. By the project"s end, the two stations are expected to annually produce 216 MT of peanuts, 10.5 MT of both sorghum and corn, and 1.3 MT of millet. IRA North will provide the CNP annually with the following amounts of breeder seed: 2.5 tons of peanut, 300 kg of corn, 200 kg of sorghum, and 20 kg of millet. To maintain this seed, a cold storage unit, able to ensure seed viability 3-5 years and to store 600 kg of peanuts, sorghum, corn, and millet will be built. Before transferral to the CNP, seed quality will be verified at a seed testing laboratory to be built at IRA North in Maroua. The laboratory will be equipped for the performance of germination, vigor, and moisture content tests and will have the capacity to test 2,500 seed samples annually. To provide the CNP with adequate extension services, the extensionist training capacity of the Society for the Development of Cotton (SODECOTON) will be institutionalized by the training of a 7-person SODECOTON training team, who in turn will train 700 SODECOTON extensionists and MOA field personnel. Other training will include long-term training of 9 persons (mostly at U.S. seed firms); short-term training of 12 others, 6 in the United States (mostly at Mississippi State University), the rest in third countries; and in-service training of 20 seed farm personnel. A.I.D. will also fund 23 work-years of long-term and 30 work-months of short-term TA. Amendment of 8/31/88 extends the PACD to 12/31/91; attention will focus on seed processing and on expanding total production. Economic and performance data will be generated to guide the Government and the private sector in adapting the project seed system in other zones of the country. Additional long- and short-term TA and training are provided. (PD-AAY-176)