CISANET unhappy with fake seeds’ proliferation as new law not operational

By The Maravi Post Last updated Jul 26, 2022

LILONGWE– The country “s Civil Society Agriculture Network is unhappy with continued proliferation of poor quality and fake seed on Malawi market. The development comes as in April this year, Parliament passed a Seed Bill with an aim of curbing illegal seed supply in the country. Executive Director for CISANET, Lillian Saka told the media breakfast on Friday,…

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET) is unhappy with continued proliferation of poor quality and fake seed on Malawi market.

This is resulting into low yields while forcing farmers to incur heavy loans on inputs.

The development comes as in April this year, Parliament passed a Seed Bill with an aim of curbing illegal seed supply in the country.

Despite the bill being gazetted in May, the markets are still flooded with counterfeit seeds as the law is not in operational.

Executive Director for CISANET, Lillian Saka told the media breakfast on Friday, July 22, 2022 in the capital Lilongwe that out that continued use of fake seeds contributes to low yields.

She adds that there’s also inadequate understanding of the importance of high-quality seed.

Wilkson Makumba, Director in the Department of Agricultural Research Services however blames prevailing use of fake seeds on weak policies that would help in monitoring markets.

CISANET lawyer Khumbo Soko observes that until the minister appoints the date, Malawi will continue using the 1988 Seed Act which has some outdated aspects.

The new Seed Act, which was gazetted on May 20, 2022, has a minimum penalty of MK30 million or seven years jail sentence in default for noncompliance of the Act

The Minister of Agriculture however is yet to appoint a date for the operationalization of the new Seed Act which Parliament enacted in April this year.

The new Act is expected to address the issue of fake seed on the market.

The post CISANET unhappy with fake seeds’ proliferation as new law not operational appeared first on The Maravi Post.

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