By JAJAH COULIBALY –
A SCAM in which maize grain is being painted into different colours to hoodwink buyers as certified seed has been uncovered.
The suspected conmen are using colourants used for making soft drinks to make maize seeds acquire colour and finally sell it to unsuspecting farmers as certified seed.
Sunday Times investigations in Chibolya’s Kabesha area, a place known for livestock trade, found the place flooded with fake seed.
A man who has been involved in the unscrupulous trade for the previous seven years said that ordinary maize was soaked in rich coloured powder to give it an appealing colour.
He said that the maize was then sun dried openly and sprayed with agro chemicals to give it an appealing scent to unsuspecting customers.
“This is a farming season, my target is to sell more than 200 x 10kg bags of seed and advance my projects,” he said.
Nelly Moobola, a farmer in Mumbwa’s Chief Kaindu’s area confirmed in a telephone interview that she bought the fake seed after supplying village chickens in Chibolya which she planted mid-November this year.
Ms Moobola said a normal maize seed would germinate in a week but that to her surprise the seed did not sprout since it was fake.
Another victim in Mazabuka who sought anonymity explained how he quickly got his money back after discovering the seed he had bought was fake.
He said he was lucky that he had gotten the contacts and knew the man who had sold him the seed.
Lusaka Province Police Commissioner Nelson Phiri said such a scam was news to him although he added that it was a serious offence to swindle farmers in such a way and that the Intellectual Property Unit from the Zambia Police would immediately move in.
Mr Phiri warned that the perpetrators of this vice would soon be dealt with once the law caught up with them.