THE government plans to construct a modern agricultural laboratory to facilitate agricultural researches in the country.
The initiative targets to improve agricultural production and productivity and will also see the renovation of at least 10 agro-laboratories in various parts of the country.
Coordinator of Agriculture Sector Development Programme (ASDP II) Vumilia Zinkakuba said the project would enable farmers in the country to work more professionally.
“In the next five years the government intends to transform the sector of agriculture by investing largely in agroresearch facilities,” she noted.
There will be scientific researches on improved seeds, soil testing and fertility and climate change mitigation. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a modern internal control seed quality laboratory at the Morogoro- based Agriculture Seed Agency (ASA).
The initiative, supported by the Expanding Rice Production Project (ERPP) eyes to facilitate professional monitoring of seeds produced at the agency’s farms in line with the implementation of a 10-year strategy by the government to boost seed production in Tanzania.
According to Deputy Minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe, the ministry is implementing a key strategy to improve country’s seed adequacy which stands at 80 per cent.
The initiative, according to him, focuses on enabling Tanzania to start benefiting from external seed markets.
ASA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Sophia Kashenge, said demand for improved seed stood at 186,500 tonnes per year, but only 71,000 tonnes were produced.
“Out of the produced 71,000 seeds, seeds for food crops are 59,368 metric tonnes, whereby 35,000 metric tonnes are for cotton and the remaining 21,368 metric tonnes are for food crops,” she noted.