Maize cargo barred at Malawi border ’safe from lethal virus’

Prof Joseph Ndunguru, the director of the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA), which ran an extensive laboratory analysis on the consignment issued a regulatory notice declaring the grain consignment to be free from ‘maize lethal necrosis,’ a virus simply known as MLN.

In addition to issuing a clean bill of health for the grain consignment, the notice affirmed that “there are no traces of maize lethal necrosis anywhere in Tanzania where the staple crop is grown.”

Authorities at the Nkhata Bay port district of Malawi withdrew over 40 tons of maize which was being transported to Malawi in what was described as a measure to prevent the spread of a devastating viral infection on the crop

An alert was recently raised over MLN by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture through tits agricultural research services department, cautioning that MLN has no treatment. It is transmitted by planting maize grain infected with the virus, causing 100 percent yield loss. The ministry then went ahead and banned grain imports from Kenya and Tanzania

TPHPA decided to investigate the matter, starting with the consignment held at the border, affirming it is safe from MLN, and then proceeded to regional maize purchasing centres for similar tests, and was satisfied that there are no such crop diseases, he said.

After releasing its report, TPHPA dispatched it to Malawian authorities “in an effort to clear the air over misinformation regarding Tanzanian grain being exported to Lilongwe,” he said.

The director all the same maintained the ban on importation of soya beans and maize seeds from Malawi as authorities here seek to “shield the country from a number of suspected crop diseases and infections,” he stated.

Crop traders must adhere to the directives as it has been confirmed that soya and maize seeds from Malawi are infected with the ‘tobacco ringspot virus’ which could threaten beans and grain production if imported.

Some of the plant viral infections have been discovered to be the result of genetically modified (GM) crops that Tanzania prohibits, he ventured to say, in the face of conflicting reports from Malawi on its stance regarding maize from Tanzania.

While the ban was still being exercised, Charles Kalemba, the country’s commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs said Malawi would still import maize flour from Tanzania.

He stated that the grain flour from Tanzania will be used by up to 4.4m Malawians facing acute food shortage, affirming that milled maize was safer than actual seeds.

Paul Turnbull. the World Food Programme country director for Malawi, said the agency is milling 30,000 tonnes of maize in Tanzania to supply Malawi with food relief, as the country suffers food shortages following last year’s hurricane Freddy disaster.