The Board Director for Pesticides and Control Board, Dr Misheck Soko said pesticides that are bought from unauthorised dealers are not certified and are mostly not labelled on how farmers can best apply such pesticides.

“Usually you find people in the market selling pesticides that have been repacked in plastic papers or bottles in illegal places. This has led to farmers getting raw deals from these pesticides and are sometimes mixed with unrelated pesticide chemicals,” said Soko.

He urged farmers to be on the look out and buy pesticides that are properly sealed in their containers, correctly labelled and have both expiry and manufactured dates.

Soko said the Board will go around looking for dealers that are not registered to deal in pesticides and they will intensify their inspection to verify certificates that allow such traders to carry out pesticide selling businesses.

“As we speak now, some of our personnel are in Karonga and Chitipa doing routine inspections to make sure that traders are complying with terms that are on the licenses. We have engaged the Police who will work hand in hand with us to confiscate all pesticides being sold illegally,” he said.