Research on seeds that are made by Funwe Seeds Company has showed that Malawian farmers have been tricked into buying grains believing they are seeds of groundnuts.
It has been revealed that the company is selling grains which are failing to germinate.
A seasoned researcher at Bvumbwe Agriculture Research Station Austin Phiri who studied the grains being sold by Funwe said the grains are failing to germinate and those that do have abnormal germination as their stems look like mushroom stems.
Funwe Seeds Company which has been selling grains of groundnuts through various selling points across the country is yet to comment on the claims that have been made by the researcher.
It is believed that farmers also raised concerns over the groundnut seeds sold by the company but they were quickly dismissed by authorities.
A quick internet search shows that seeds are an ovule containing an embryo within, while a grain is the fusion of the seed coat and the fruit.
For some grains like groundnuts, the shell can be separated from the fruit to reveal the seed while for the corn, the seed coat and fruit tissue cannot be separated.
A seed has three basic parts namely seed coat, endosperm and the embryo being the most important of all the parts. The embryo has cells that eventually differentiate and grow into various tissues that constitute the plants.
While the endosperm and seed coat provide support though they are critical to the development of the embryo.
