RWAMAGANA - The Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, yesterday unveiled a hybrid 513 type of maize seed at Nsinda Prison Farm.

Addressing the media shortly after touring the over 250 hectares of maize farm, Minister Karibata said the introduction of the hybrid seed is meant to foster the general sustainability of food in the country.
She said that the new type of seed can easily be accommodated by local farmers.

She said that prisons have become great partners of the Ministry of Agriculture in crop production.

The Minister said that her ministry works with prisons, to produce many other crops including hybrid Avocado fruits.
"What we want is that our farmers plant crops timely, so that they are not affected by the weather. As for stockage and selling, no one should be worried,” she said.

The commissioner General of Rwanda Prisons Services, Mary Gahonzire, said that the planting of the hybrid seed will be carried out in other prisons as well.
She said that Nsinda prison has over 685 hectares for growing maize and other crops.

"We have launched the hybrid maize seed at this prison today, but we shall involve all the others soon. Prisoners are involved in full scale production, for their own good, and the good of the Rwandan society,” she said.

Elvis Kiprono, a maize farming expert from Kenya assisting the prison farm in the maize growing, said the process involves some simple technology.

He however said that farmers, especially those in cooperatives, will have to be given the skills to produce the maize.

He added that the maize is a highly cross-pollinated, markedly, by wind and gravity and is also visited by bees.
"The female and male maize seeds are planted alongside each other, to allow easy pollination. You also have to avoid unwanted pollination…so it demands informed supervision which is why we shall train farmers,” he said.

Nsinda Prison has a population of over 8,000 inmates, and among them, are people with various specialized farming skills.

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