By The Citizen Reporter
Arusha. Rice production at Lekitatu in Arusha Region is growing by over 100 per cent in some farms as farmers adopt the use of modern fertilisers.
Apart from supplying farmers with its fertilisers, Yara Tanzania Company is also helping paddy farmers here with its extension services.
Yara Tanzania Company is a subsidiary of Yara International ASA, a Norwegian chemical company.
The farmers, who spoke to journalists at the weekend, said during the past few years, they have seen their production growing from 15 bags per
acre to 30 bags.
“I have grown paddy for the last one decade and a half in this area. The average harvest per acre has been 15 bags. Now I am harvesting between 30-35 bags on the same farm,” said Anneth Moshi.
Lekitatu is one of the major paddy growing areas in Arusha Region. “I am confident that farming will be paying off now and majority of
Tanzanians will start reaping big from their hard work,” Ms Moshi said, adding that growers were anxious to see a small agro-industry being established in the area.
Mr Joel Msangi echoed similar sentiments: “In the past, we used to miss out largely due to a lack of education on the use of right fertilisers and when to use them. We also lacked the knowledge of applying fertilisers on the right soils,” he said.
He said, however, that now, agronomists from Yara train growers on proper rice cultivation and guide them on the use of right fertilisers.
Yara Tanzania was registered in Tanzania in 2005.
