Posted on September, 23, 2019 at 10:37 am
THE Tanzania Agro dealers Cooperative Society (TADCOS) has appealed for the government to withdraw the 170,000/- business permit levy posed to them so as to enable them conduct the business smoothly while selling the products to farmers at affordable prices.
The Union’s chairman Gerald Mlenge said that the levy posed to them stands among the major reasons for high price of agriculture inputs thus thwarting tir development.
“We are appealing for the government to take this matter seriously and see how it can extend its support. This situation affects both traders and farmers,” Mlenge said during the agro-dealers workshop.
He also called on the government to provide grants to the suppliers something that will help production of quality and affordable seeds.
According to him, currently agro-seeds are being sold at the price between 10000/- and 12000/- per 2-kilogrammer packet which is too high for the farmers to afford.
Mlenge also called on stakeholders and the government to create a special system of financing training for agro-dealers which most of them don’t afford to attend due to high fees.
“For an agro-dealer to be good and perfect to conduct the trade, he/she should attend special training to be capacitated on required skills and knowledge of the business...but most of us fail to attend them due to high fees charged...they range from 350,000/- to 450,000/-, so this remains a major challenge to us,” he added.
Also speaking, one of the farmers from Blambila village in Shinyanga District Rodgers Donald said that most of the farmers in the area are unaware of modern farming methods.
According to him, most of them are farming for consumption and not for commercial due to low knowledge.
“My plea to the government is to come to the rural areas, meet famers and support us with prerequisite skills and knowledge as well as financially to enable the group embark on agribusiness for the country’s development,” he said.
For his part, the Deputy Registrar of Cooperatives from the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC) Charles Malunde said that for the country to have a payable agriculture, investing in quality agro-dealers was vital.
“Having qualified dealers of agriculture inputs will enable farmers to get quality seeds, fertilizers and other key equipments thus improving their farming and doubling yields,” he said.
Source: IPP Media