An innovative app facilitates seed certification and creates a market for cassava seed of improved varieties

IITA scientists developed an app, the Cassava Seed Tracker, to e-certify seed fields. The app allows farmers to locate a seed producer and buy high quality, virus-free seed of improved varieties.

In this way buyers can be sure of getting stems of the variety they want, as mix-ups of varieties are common in the informal seed system. The Seed Tracker can be used on a smart phone to collect and organize seed production information, making it easier for regulatory institutions to register producers, certify seed fields, monitor seed quality, location, variety, and availability. Seed producers can find expert advice on quality seed production, and information to help buy and sell certified seed. Seed Tracker allows real-time information exchange between producers, regulators and buyers, saving time and money. The National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) of Nigeria has adopted it, replacing cumbersome paper forms that later needed to be transcribed, and the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) has started pilot testing, to make seed certification more efficient, accessible and cost-effective.