Committee assures farmers on Seed Bill

The Agriculture Committee of Parliament has assured farmers in the country that it will lobby for the tabling of the Seed Bill in the House before the next farming season.

The commitment follows delivery of a Seed Bill petition to Parliament by a group of farmers led by Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM), Civil Society Agriculture Network and National Association of Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi, among others.

The committee’s deputy chairperson Ulemu Chilapondwa made the commitment on Friday in Lilongwe when the farmers presented the petition at Parliament for legislators to consider enacting the Seed Bill that has remained in draft form for many years.

He said the committee shares the frustrations of the farmers bearing in mind that the Seed Bill has remained in draft form since 2015.

He said: “Farmers are currently not protected from fake seeds that are made in the country or those that are from outside the country. That is why there is need for the Bill to be enacted to ensure that culprits of fake seeds are punished.”

FUM president Frighton Njolomole said farmers who plant fake seeds get less than 10 percent of the yield income than those that use genuine and certified seed.

He said studies by agricultural experts show that about 60 percent of seed sold on the local market is mere grain presented by traders as certified seed.

Njolomole said: “This is a key challenge, we farmers are facing and we call on the legislators to not only hear and nod heads, but to move to action because the solution to this challenge is within reach.

“It is not surprising to note that returns from the Affordable Input Programme [AIP] are not tallying with the colossal investments that are being channeled into the programme”.

He explained that farmers strongly believe that the proliferation of fake seed is one of the major problems that are negatively affecting the country’s agricultural transformation drive.

The Bill, among others, intends to deal with fake seed on the market and guide how seed business is conducted in the country.