The stock market analyst from Imara Edwards Securities Limited (Imara) said:
"SeedCo does not produce GMO seed varieties, but the company is looking at starting the production of GMO cotton seeds which are more pest resistant. Producing more GMO varieties on the other seeds (maize, wheat) could increase its development of drought and disease resistant seeds.”
The Zimbabwe market is very wary of GMO produced foods, especially poultry which was being dumped here from such countries as Egypt and South Africa.
The government had to intervene when there was a sudden influx of chickens at much cheaper prices than those produced in Zimbabwe, leading to an outcry from those involved in the poultry industry.
The stock market analyst said it would be interesting to see how the market reacted to seed cotton GMOs.
A large proportion of SeedCo's seed is distributed via commercial clients or through public entities in the tender market. He said extending the distribution to include smaller retail customers could "hedge against reliance on one buyer and also safeguard operating profit margins, building brand loyalty at the grass roots level".
SeedCo management say they estimate total volumes of between 48 000 million tonnes and 50 000 million tonnes for maize and 8 000 million tonnes for other seeds for this financial year.
SeedCo Limited is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and has a market capitalisation of US$260,4 million.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News