Maize is one of the most potential cereal crops grown globally. Due to its wide adaptability and higher productivity, maize cultivation is spreading rapidly around the globe and currently this crop is being cultivated in many parts of the world. In Nepal, maize is considered the second staple food crop after rice in total food grain production (23 percent to the total crop production) accounting for about 25 percent of the total cropping area with an average yield of 2.02 t/ha (CBS, 2006). However, the productivity of maize in Nepal is lower in comparison to the 7 t/ha in the temperate areas of developed countries and the global average of 3.8 t/ha (Premi et al., 2001). Insufficient amount of quality seed at planting time has been considered one ofthe major production constraints for maize in the country. Duvic (1992) has reported that there is a 50 to 60 percent contribution by genetic material on an increase in maize yield. Notwithstanding, it has been reported that the seed replacement rate inNepal is about 12 to 16 percent per annum (Rajbhandari, 2004). Further, there is a need for about 16 to 20 thousand tons of maize seed per annum for the cultivation area of 800,000 ha. However, only about 1,500 tons of maize seed is fulfilled by the formal seed sector, 1,000 tons being imported from India and the remaining by local sources such as farm recycled seed and exchange between farmers. This indicates the limited role of the formal seed sector in Nepal. This is mainly due to that less importance is given to seed by most of the farmers, and they are using their own low quality, recycled seed for several years and consequently yield potential of their cultivars deteriorate over time. In addition, access to improved maize seed is limited to the farmers, which could be one of the major constrictions for low adoption of fresh improved seed and consequently slow improvement in maize productivity in the country (Regmi et al., 2004).
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