Constraints to and opportunities for developing a bean seed production and marketing system in Honduras

Recent studies have found that over 50% of bean farmers in the main bean-producing areas of Honduras planted modern varieties. However, many of the farmers planted varieties released up to 10 years ago and most farmers obtained seed from neighbors or farmer-saved seed. This indicates a need to increase physical supply and expand farmer access to modern bean varieties. One option for meeting this need is to establish a seed system in which small-scale farmers are contracted to multiply seed of modern varieties under the supervision of Zamorano and market seed through an input supply firm. This study looks at the feasibility of implementing such a scheme. A rapid appraisal was conducted to collect information from key informants to describe the bean seed subsector in Honduras and identify potential small-scale bean seed producers and marketing agents. In addition, 72 farmers in El Paraiso and Olancho were surveyed to assess the demand for improved bean seed. Amadeus 77 was the variety with the highest demand. Bean seed production budgets were constructed and used to determine if it was feasible to market improved bean seed at department capitals and smaller towns for L 12/lb (L 26.4/kg). At a price of L 12/lb (L 26.4/kg), the estimated seed demand for Amadeus 77 in El Paraiso and Olancho is of approximately 24 mt and 54 mt. At this price and demand level, the projected demand is sufficient to motivate input marketing firms to distribute the seed produced under contract by small-scale seed producers.