Source: Farmers speak on fake drugs | The Herald
Tina Musonza
Herald Reporter
Farmers are being hit by the flooding of fake, expired and unregistered veterinary medicines and other agricultural chemicals on the market saying police raids must be intensified to curb this fraud.
Agricultural drugs and chemicals distributors that sell expired or counterfeit drugs usually charge lower prices, but these are not bargains and farmers have been challenged to be more alert.
Such substandard medicines and chemicals have resulted in a higher percentage of livestock death toll and crop disturbance.
A potato farmer Mr Nyongani Botomani of Spring Farm along Shamva Road said some pesticides and other chemicals were ineffective.
“Continuous distribution of fake agricultural medicines and chemicals is affecting farmers. Some pesticides on the market have proved to be ineffective in killing pests, thereby reducing the yield. Farmers make big losses and at the end, the economy suffers,” he said.
Another farmer from Coldstream in Headlands, Mr Edward Dune, said farmers should buy chemicals and other inputs from reputable shops.
“Farmer organisations and extension officers are on record educating farming communities to procure such products from reputable sources. We feel that porous borders contribute to the influx of such commodities and stern measures need to be taken and bring the culprits to book,’’ Mr Dune said.
Mrs Maiwepi Jiti urged the police to intensify their operations and raid all errant hardware shops to curb the sale of counterfeit, expired and other substandard products. She lost a hectare of soya beans after applying a counterfeit herbicide.
“Selling fake chemicals is stealing. The traders are stealing from us. I lost a hectare of soya beans after applying fake Rhizobium during planting. There are companies that sell fake chemicals. Some chemicals are over-diluted with water before being sold to us,” she said.
“I recommend the Government to protect farmers by inspecting the companies’ warehouses to check on the quality of imported chemicals as well as being vigilant at our porous borders where cheaper and expired chemicals find their way into the country.’’
The CID Drugs and Narcotics Unit, working with the Council of Veterinary Surgeons and the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, raided the veterinary medicines general dealer (also known as Veterinary Distributors) at Westgate Mall and seized truckloads of expired, counterfeit and unregistered veterinary medicines.
Experts say the sale of expired and unregistered drugs was a serious offence and it poses a serious threat to animal health.
On top of the original sticker showing the drug expiration, traders put new one with a later expiry date to mislead farmers.
Use of expired and counterfeit drugs leads to animals failing to recover from illnesses, promotes antimicrobial resistance and poses a threat to the health of man and the environment.
It also reduces productivity and profitability of animal husbandry exercises and therefore threatens livelihoods.
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