Welcome to tricky world of bargains

WE ran short of beer money in Epworth last month when a drinking mate splashed on a batch of day-old chicks he thought would help him supplement his meagre earnings.

“Ndarova jackpot. The chicks are many and the old man selling them is not demanding too much. He just wants US$20 and Christmas has never come this early in my life before,” he said then, before boring us with tales of how rich he would get after rearing and selling the birds.

Now, four weeks later, the bloke is kicking himself in the feet because the plan simply would not work out the way he thought it would.

Despite consuming loads and loads of feed, he tells me the birds have never grown from the state he bought them in. The food conversion efficiency is zero. In fact, his situation is now worse off.

Welcome to the tricky world of bargains.

As I pen this piece, scores of farmers are busy buying seed, fertilisers, herbicides and little everything else in preparation for the forthcoming season. Places like Mbare, Highfield and Chitungwiza are teeming with farmers who are literally falling over each other in the hope of buying inputs at the cheapest possible terms and relaxed payment terms.

Scores of families have cut down on luxuries and even deferred the payment of other bills to concentrate on agricultural inputs.

All this investment could count for nothing or equate to cutting a tree branch one will be sitting on if they do not buy certified seed.

It is not unusual to walk into most trading areas and be greeted by sights of bags of seed and fertilisers with funny names that are touted as high yielding and less expensive by confidence tricksters who largely mushroom this time of the year.

“If ever there is something I would never do is buy seed from the street. I was once sold seed maize by some dealers at a give-away price. Unbeknown to me, this was not a bargain, but a total rip-off. The seed would just not germinate,” one farmer who identified himself as Mr Tellmore Nyakabau told this writer.

He said efforts to contact the dealer were fruitless as he had closed shop.

Mr Moffat Maenzanise echoed similar sentiments.

“My brother, I will tell you one thing for nothing. Never go for bargains in life. Cheap things are never cheap. In most cases, they will be of inferior quality. You would rather save enough for a longer period of time to be able to buy something expensive but good. We must always buy genuine stuff. These so-called traders offering bargains in places like Mbare and everywhere else should simply be arrested. Imbavha dziye,” he said as he tied the laces of his safety shoes.

Gentle reader, women also have in the past fallen victim to unscrupulous dealers.

“I no longer want to hear anything called a bargain. I later took the chemicals I had bought from the street for laboratory analysis and discovered it was water mixed with maize meal. When I went back looking for the guys who had sold me the stuff, they had vanished.

“It could have been worse if I was of loose morals because the guys were even pestering me for a romantic affair. After this incident, I discovered I could save more money and avoid being the talk of the village by buying certified inputs. I was to be named ‘the woman whose seed did not germinate’ by loudmouths. We are living in trying times and we do ourselves much good by dealing with registered dealers and avoid cutting corners,” said a farmer who identified herself as Chihera.

Gentle reader as we plan for the forthcoming season, it is critical to deal with registered dealers selling certified inputs.

Avoid throwing money down the latrine. Inotambika mughetto.