EASTERN PROVINCE NYAGATARE - The National Agriculture Research Institute(ISAR) on Tuesday introduced a new maize variety ; ISAR M081, which is set to boost maize farmers’ production in the country. The official launch of the new maize seed was held in Nyagatare district. It was attended by ISAR staff, development partners in the district, local leaders and residents. According to Dr. Claver Ngaboyisonga, who is the Institute’s maize programme manager, the new breed will boost farmers productivity abundantly. It is a tremendous achievement that since we carried out research on this maize breed, our dream has come true. It is a new move and this new maize variety will help boost farmers productivity,’ he said. Dr. Ngaboyisonga explained that through ISAR’s appropriate technologies platform , the new variety will assist farmers in the development of more effective production systems. ‘This seed variety ensures that farmers can have shorter crop husbandry periods than previous cases. Meaning that the new variety will mature within a period of three only months,’ he said. ‘This new maize seed variety has multiple uses. According to our research, it helps in curbing malnutirion cases such as Kwashiorkor in children,’ he said. The ISAR director general, Dr. Mark Bagabe Cyubahiro,said that the innovation by the institution is just one among many. ‘We currently have close to twenty maize varieties under research in our laboratories. We are working hard to have them fully developed so as to assist farmers boost their yields,’ he said. Dr. Bagabe also revealed that farmers will also be able to take advantage of a new cassava seed variety that will improve their livelihoods. Ends
