By Chisomo Phiri
The Ministry of Agriculture has expressed concern over the low uptake of certified seed in the country, with only 40% of farmers having access to high-quality seed.
Speaking during the national dialogue on seed systems and market access for agricultural transformation, organized by Total Land Care (TLC) through the TRANSFORM program in Mponela-Dowa on Tuesday,Director of Agriculture Extension Services in the Ministry of Agriculture,Pearson Soko said the supply of seed production is lower than the demand on the market, which has led to the proliferation of fake seed among businesses.
On his part,Business Department Officer at the Seed Traders Association of Malawi (STAM),Supply Chisi,revealed that the current seed production stands at approximately 18,000 metric tonnes, falling short of the potential demand of 40,000 metric tonnes.
Chisi attributed the shortfall to the preference of many farmers for recycled seed.
In his remarks, Country Director of Norwegian ChurchAid (NCA) and Dan ChurchAid (DCA),Stefan Jansen,highlighted the objectives of the five-year TRANSFORM program, which aims to improve the livelihoods of over 150,000 smallholder farmers in six selected districts across Malawi.
