Speaking to Standardbusiness during a field day in Lupane on Thursday, Myers said the seed producer is working on strategies to boost its visibility on the local market.“Currently, we have between 22-25% market share but our vision is to push it to 30% this year.
“We are confident that it is achievable and we would penetrate the market through field days,” Myers said.
He said by mid-May they would have done 400 field days countrywide.
The seed house is also planning to increase its footprint in Africa.
“In Africa our brand is on second position and we are visible in 13 countries of which we dominate the South African market.
“We are working on joint ventures which might see us buying other businesses for expansion in Africa that would catapult us into the largest seed house in Africa.”However, Myers would not reveal the firms they were targeting “as the deals have not yet come through”.
Pioneer is the world’s leading agricultural genetics company and began operating in Zimbabwe in 1992.
Zimbabwe also serves as the headquarters for Pioneer’s East African operations, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia.
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Myers urged farmers not to heavily rely on seed handouts from various government programmes and donors but learn to buy.
“The dependency syndrome which has crippled our country to low levels of production has to be changed by partnering with farmers, given the correct advice on agronomy, providing inputs on time and these issues would make farming profitable,” Myers said.
In combating counterfeit products, Myers said fake seeds remain a challenge, saying the group had come up with a number of measures aimed at stopping the malpractice.
“We have approached manufactures of our bags to say that if they have excess bags, Pioneer would rather buy them so that people who might attempt to counterfeit fail,” he said.
In recent years, there have been several reports of conmen selling fake seed and fertilizers countrywide. Ordinary maize seed is tainted with green material to make it look like genuine seed.
