Malawi moves to ensure quality seeds, fertilizers
Ministry of Agriculture is rising to the occasion in dealing with malpractices surrounding seeds and fertilizers, a bold move which will ensure quality assurance of the two vital products.
The Ministry also plans to establish Malawi seed and fertilizer authorities to help regulate seed and fertilizer sectors.
Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale, said this in Parliament when he presented a ministerial statement on agriculture research services.
On seeds, Kawale said the Ministry, through the Seed Services Unit, sampled and tested all seed distributed on the market through the Affordable Inputs Programs (AIP) and commercial sell to ensure availability of high quality seed to farmers.
Kawale said the ministry is aware that there are unscrupulous seed traders who are duping farmers and is taking action to curb the malpractice.
“This high quality seed is distributed through registered agro dealers and each seed packet contains a scratch card packet label on it. All farmers purchasing this seed are required to scratch the seed packet label and send the revealed code number to 3015 toll free number to verify seed quality.
“Farmers are also encouraged not to empty the seed from the branded seed packet as these are being used by the unscrupulous traders to pack fake seed and sell to them at a cheaper price”.
According to Kawale, on fertilizer, the Ministry in collaboration with partners, also verifies the quality of the fertilizers offered for sale either through AIP or commercial.
“Just like in the seed sector, the ministry is also aware of the fake traders in the fertilizer sector and is taking action to curb the malpractice.
“Random fertilizer samples will be collected for laboratory testing in research stations to verify its quality. Any perpetrators of the malpractice will be brought to book,” he said.
Kawale further said new Seed Act, 2022 and Fertilizer Act, 2023 were enforced and establishing Malawi Seed and Fertilizer Regulatory Authorities, to help regulate seed and fertilizer sectors.
Seed and Fertilizer Regulations to operationalize the acts have been drafted, according to Kawale.
He said the ministry plans to include a budget for the establishment of Malawi Seed and Fertilizer Authorities in the 2025/2026 budget.
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