Posted on February, 15, 2021 at 11:01 am
They issued the request here on Friday at a meeting that discussed the improvement of the crop’s value chain.
Christina Mwakaganda, the chairperson of rice farmers group at Madabaga village in Mbarali District said several crops have boards that were formed to address problems facing them, but there was no such board in regard to the rice crop.
She said the work of the boards include fixing of indicative prices of the crops in relation to world markets including production costs, but for rice there was no such thing.
She said the price for rice has been fluctuating from time to time due its being sold on seller-buyer agreement, adding that sometimes the prices do not match with production costs.
The country’s rice board chairperson Winnie Bashagi said Tanzania has many areas suitable for rice cultivation, but they are not effectively utilised due to various reasons including technological reasons.
She said the country’s total land area fit for agriculture is 21 million hectares but the area currently being utilised is under 10 per cent, hence she stressed that if a rice board is established, farmers could be mobilised to increase production.
Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) representative Godfrey Kalaghe said in-depth research was needed for rice farming before advising policy makers to make any decisions.
He said REPOA has been doing various researches and advises the government to make decisions to drive forward development and alleviate poverty among the people via various sectors for sustainable development.
Mbeya Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila said in order for farmers to abandon poverty research has to be conducted to access to markets for their crops to enable farmers get the right answers for their crops.
Source: IPP Media