ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Food Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Packaging and Preservation
This article is part of the Research TopicShelf Life in HorticultureView all articles
Status of Maize Seed System and Storage Practices among Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania
Provisionally accepted
- 1United Republic of Tanzania Ministry of Agriculture, Dodoma, Tanzania
- 2Sokoine University of Agriculture College of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Word count: 312 The quality and productivity of maize crops are function of the planting materials and crop management practices. However, the quality and storage practices of farm-saved maize seed, used by more than 70% of smallholder farmers in Tanzania, are less well studied. This study aimed at assessing the status of maize seed systems, storage practices, and the quality of stored seeds in the Kilosa, Gairo, and Mvomero districts of Morogoro Region. A multi-stage stratified sampling approach was applied to survey 240 maize farmers across 11 villages in the three districts. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. Survey data were analysed in R software using a chi-square test (P ≤ 0.05) to examine relationships between variables. In addition, a second study was conducted using a 3×3 factorial experiment arranged in a completely randomised design (CRD). Maize seed samples from the three most common storage materials were collected at harvest and after three months of storage for laboratory analysis of seed quality parameters: germination percentage, vigour index, and moisture content. The data were subjected to ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD test (P ≤ 0.05) in R software. Results revealed that 56.2% of farmers used informal seed systems, and 70.8% engaged in seed recycling due to financial constraints. Education level significantly influenced the choice of maize seed system (P = 0.004), maize cultivar (P = 0.025), and maize seed recycling practice (P = 0.023). Polypropylene Bags (with and without insecticide) and hermetic bags were the most common storage materials. The hermetic bag maintained a higher seed germination rate (86.8%) than the polypropylene bag without insecticide (81.8%). Hermetic bags are therefore recommended over polypropylene bags (with and without insecticide) for enhancing maize seed storage. Capacity building on seed systems should prioritise farmer education, as it significantly determines the seed systems and handling practices adopted.
Keywords: Farmers saved seeds, Hermetic storage, porous bag, seed damage, Seed systems
Received: 28 Aug 2025; Accepted: 18 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mlay, Yustas and Majubwa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mary Raymond Mlay
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.