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Fortunate Gora Mash West Correspondent
Unscrupulous dealers in Mashonaland West Province are duping farmers with fake maize seed.

Farmers from areas such as Gambuli, Kanyaga, Chikuti, Chifundi and East Range have fallen victim to the fake seed dealers.

One of the victims, Mrs Tsitsi Kafinya of Gambuli in Makonde District said just like several other farmers in her area, she met the bogus traders in Chinhoyi where she bought 20kg.

“I bought 20kg of maize seed packaged in 5kg pockets at $10 each. My husband noticed that I had bought fake maize seed after doubting the price because he said the original price must be ranging from $24 to $30. We then approached one of our agronomists who confirmed that it was fake,” she said.

Mrs Kafinya said 10 of her colleagues also bought the same fake seed.

Zimbabwe Farmers Union vice president Mr Berean Mukwende said fake seed would disadvantage farmers as it was likely not going to germinate.

The fake seed, he said, was prone to diseases and could result in low yields.

“We are encouraging all the farmers to rely on reputable companies to avoid losses. Farmers should never buy their seed from the streets unless they are ready for a disappointment,” he said.

Klein Karoo Seed western regional sales and marketing Mr Langton Tagwasha said farmers should not buy seed because it is cheap.

He said seed was not readily available in some remote areas resulting in people falling prey to unscrupulous dealers.

“Some farmers have resorted to the cheap seed being sold by unscrupulous seed dealers, but pricing only should communicate to you the value of the product,” he said.

Mr Tagwasha said farmers were also advised to seek advice from their local agronomist if they want to buy seed from individuals.

“We therefore advise farmers to approach their local agronomist whenever they want to buy suspicious seed.

“Because not all those people who sell seed in remote areas are dubious, some are providing a genuine service after they discovered transport challenges being faced by farmers.

“We, however, urge them to look closely at the packaging and take the details of the dealers, so that those who cheat can be brought to book.”

The unscrupulous dealers paint the seed in colours used by reputable seed houses to gain farmers’ trust.

Investigations further revealed that diluting or colouring can happen at many levels in the supply chain as some retail outlets are forced to repackage the seed in smaller bags that are affordable by all the farmers.

This repackaging process leads to contamination of the product.