Posted on March, 17, 2022 at 08:05 am
MINISTER for Agriculture, Mr Hussein Bashe, has prepared and dispatched to India special information on seasonality and production volume of all crops that the country is exporting to India.
The crops under the category in question include pigeon pea, green gram, sesame and avocado, among others, as the country aims to increase the export volume to the South Asian country.
According to Mr Bashe, the development which surfaced due to his special audience with the Indian High Commissioner to Tanzania, Mr Binaya Srikanta Pradhan aims to bolster smooth bilateral trade relations between the two countries.
"I had a positive audience with High Commissioner Pradhan through which, the agriculture minister of India requested me to send him information over seasonality and our production capacity towards the crops that we export to India so that he can stand a better side to coordinate professional bilateral trade relations with Tanzania," he said.
Together with that, he informed that the government had so far entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India for the exportation of all crops that Tanzania is exporting to India.
"The general focus is to ensure that our trade relations with India remain stable, while enabling local farmers and exporters of the relevant crops to benefit accordingly," expressed.
He urged local farmers to use the Indian market effectively by engaging in mass cultivation of the crops in question.
"The government will continue to ensure more research on improved seed varieties as well as empowering the farmers with needed agronomy practices," he assured.
To ensure the farmers are benefiting from the lucrative crop market in India, the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) has embarked on a special strategy to escalate cultivation of all crops that Tanzania is exporting to India.
National Coordinator of Grain Legume research at TARI, MrMeshackMakenge informed that the move incorporates production of improved seed varieties and training towards the farmers.
"To start with, we have already planted more than ten hectares of seed varieties for pigeon pea at our Moratoria-based Ilonga Centre in order to supply the farmers with enough seeds," he expressed.
He named the seeds varieties as Mali, Kiboko, Karatu, Ilonga 14MI, Ilonga 14M2, Tumia and Komboa.
"Basically, TARI is producing early generation seeds, breeder, pre basic and basic pigeon pea seeds," he stated.
And he informed that few farmers in the country use improved varieties, regardless of its availability, saying: "This could be due to the fact that most seed companies and agencies do not multiply pigeon pea seeds for commercialization."
He however said the state-owned Institute was also coordinating vital strategies to ensure mass cultivation of green gram, sesame and avocado in order to ensure the country is reaping benefits offered from the vast market in India.
Source: Daily News