Kenyan crop farmers are already tilling their land in readiness to plant when it pours. In areas where rains are already being experienced, farmers are already planting.
The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) is now calling on farmers to be vigilant not to be duped into buying basic seeds from unscrupulous dealers.
KEPHIS Managing Director Prof. Theophilus Mutui said that fake seed circulation which leads to low yields is a challenge in most African countries despite the efforts by concerned agencies to nab those taking advantage of the unsuspecting farmers.
In Kenya, Rift Valley is among the regions marked with a number of confirmed cases of fake bean and maize seeds.
According to Professor Mutui, some arrests have been made and it is suspected that some dupers are still out there and KEPHIS is sending out a request to Farmers not to hesitate to report suspected cases of fake seeds.
According to Mutui, in Rift Valley, Cherangany and Elgeyo Marakwet regions have had cases of arrests being made.
“KEPHIS is the body responsible for seeding relation and we wish to inform the public that we have come across fake seeds, we’ve gone round and been able to arrest some people with fake seeds and packaging in various counties and we urge the public, to be able to bring to our attention any information that can lead to arrest of those people doing the unscrupulous business.”
“We wish also to inform you that for those seeds packages which are less than 5 kilos,there is a KEPHIS sticker on the packet, scratch the sticker and get the unique number and send an SMS as directed in the packet to verify whether the seed is genuine or not, if you don’t get any message feedback don’t buy that seed.” Mutui cautioned.
Professor Mutui was addressing the press at KEPHIS headquarters in Nairobi after official launch of the 4th International Phytosanitary Conference.
In Kenya, the law stipulates penalties for those arrested dealing in fake seeds which includes a fine of up to Ksh.1 million and a jail term of up to two years if found guilty.
