Agriculture minister directs crop boards to focus on research
Agriculture Minister Japhet Hasunga has directed directors of crop boards in the country to set adeqaute budgtes for reaearch so as to increase output in the sector.
He made the directive here during a meeting with the ministry’s management, directors of crop boards and institutions to evaluate performance in the first half of the fiscal year.
According to him, without investing much in research, the agriculture sector will continue doing badly, affecting development of majority of farmers.
“Increasing budget for research development will also lead to efficiency in agriculture, improve crop production and thus contribute immensely into poverty reduction. So crop boards have to ensure that they invest and increase budget in the next budget year,” he said.
For his part, director general of the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) Dr Geofrey Mkamilo said that they are ready to cooperate with the crop boards to conduct researches that will bring positive impact in the agriculture sector.
“There is no way agriculture sector will develop without investing in scientific researches,” he noted.
Various studies show that agricultural production and quality in crops have drooped something which affects farmers, government and the public at large.
Earlier, acting director general of the Tanzania Tobacco Board Stanley Mnozya highlighted that in the year 20190/20 a total of 70,087 tonnes of tobacco worth 230.3bn/- were purchased.
According to him, despite being the second crop that injects a lot of revenues in the country, tobacco has been facing a number of challenges including unstable market.
“Currently four new tobacco seeds from China are in trial, once in operation, the seeds will transform the sector by increasing productivity and improving farmers wellbeing,” he noted.
Prof Jamal Adam, director general of Coffee board said the crop’s proactivity reached 55,979 tonnes by December 2019 thus surpassing the target of 50,000 tonnes set by the board.
He named mild Arabica as among the types of coffee which was highly sold reaching 32,057 tonnes; robusta (22,320 tonnes) and hard Arabica (1,602 tonnes ) worth $87.5 million in total.
“All these achievements have been contributed by good and steady price of the produce in the international market.
He however cited lack of quality seeds as among the challenges facing the sector but the board is grappling to produce more seedlings for quality coffee production.
