Farmers who fail to keep receipts and packaging materials are to blame for fuelling the sale of fake seeds, a Kephis official has said.
Kenya Plants Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) managing director Esther Kimani on Friday said farmers buy uncertified seeds from unscrupulous traders and fail to retain receipts and packaging materials for easy tracing.
She said this makes it difficult for Kephis to arrest those behind illegitimate institutions that sell unapproved seeds to farmers. It also makes compensation hard because of lack of evidence.
Kimani said it is easy for a person with a receipt and packaging material to be assisted by having the seller prosecuted, the farmer compensated with other seeds or the company producing fake seeds closed to save more farmers from danger.
“When you have documents after buying seeds it will be possible to trace the person who sold it to you. The packet and the receipt will help to trace the agrovet and the company selling it.”
Kimani said her organisation is charged with the responsibility of assuring farmers get high quality agricultural input to prevent adverse impact on the economy, the environment and human health. This shields both the farmer and the consumer.
She said farmers who fail to provide receipts, packets, containers and any other materials the seeds are packaged in out of ignorance or lack of knowledge suffer lose a lot of money and get poor yield.
Kimani spoke to journalists during a workshop on the role of Kephis and its activities in the country.
Every seed packaging material should bear the name of the company and the seed lot or batch number, which helps Kephis to investigate the quality.
Kimani urged farmers to report seeds suspected to be fake to Kephis.
Farmers were also told to buy seedlings from registered nurseries. Every nursery should be registered by Kephis after inspection.
