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As the 2024/2025 agricultural season approaches, National Tested Seeds is poised to support farmers with a wide portfolio of high-quality seeds for both field crops and vegetables. This is also complimented by the company’s wealth of expert agronomic and agri-business management services.
Speaking to this publication at the Zimbabwe Agriculture Society (ZAS), the Head of National Tested Seeds (NTS), Amon Mwashaireni, said he is very excited to face the promising agricultural season.
“Yes, we are so excited to hear that our country and the entire Southern African Region is going to receive normal to above normal rainfall. This follows one of the worst droughts experienced by the country, for years. The current economic environment remains so squeezing, but farmers are already preparing for the coming season. Most shops are already loaded with farming inputs. Our Trading Division, Farm Shops, dotted across the country, are loaded with our NTS maize varieties, vegetable seeds, fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, hardware, stock feeds, etc. Farm Shop is a one-stop shop. We however have our third-party seed distributors and other registered and approved seed-selling agents across the country,” Mwashaireni said.
National Tested Seeds maize varieties were bred to thrive in the Southern African region’s unique conditions. Their varieties and services are designed to meet the evolving needs of customers and ensure their continued success.
NTS45 and NTS43 are the company’s flagship maize hybrid varieties. These are Drought Tolerant (DT) varieties which strive in dry conditions and do much better during a good season across the country. Work has already been done to introduce new maize hybrid varieties during the 2025/2026 season.
“At National Tested Seeds, we are proud to be one of the best vegetable seed companies in the country. We have a wide range of hybrid vegetable and open-pollinated vegetable seed varieties. The weather is now warm to hot. We have very good hybrid vegetable varieties which include cabbages, butternuts, cucumbers, watermelon, melons, summer onions, tomatoes, pepper, celery, carrots, etc. We pay credit to our international suppliers of these hybrid vegetable seeds. Yes, we also have a wide range of OPV vegetable varieties. In addition to our enhanced seed offerings, we also offer personalised agronomic support and customised crop planning for both field crops and vegetables.
“Unfortunately, the current hot temperatures have led to lower levels of irrigation water in wells, dams, rivers, and boreholes. Some water bodies have dried up. We are hopeful that the rains will come as early as mid-October. The annual Presidential Input Scheme, through the Pfumvudza Programme, remains the key supplier of inputs to most rural farmers. The Scheme also remains the key market for maize hybrid seed across the seed industry. National Tested Seeds has always played a part in support of the Government programmes, and we are geared for the 2024/2025 programme,” Mwashaireni added.