ASA partners with Njombe Region to boost wheat production

TANZANIA Agricultural Seeds Agency (ASA) to enter into a special production cooperation with Makete District in  Njombe Region for the mass production of wheat.

The cooperation primarily eyes to increase availability of wheat in the country, in this growing season, ASA has rolled out at least 80 tonnes of improved wheat seeds, worth at 340m/- to support growers in the district to heighten their production and productivity.

According to ASA’s seeds production manager, Dr Justin Ringo, the state-owned seed Agency was working to curtail shortage of wheat in the country.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data shows that Tanzania’s annual domestic wheat consumption is estimated at more than 1 million tonnes per year, while total annual production stands at around 93,184 tonnes. This means that Tanzania imports about 90 per cent of the wheat it consumes.

The ministry of agriculture had specifically embarked on a fresh move aimed to revive and improve production of wheat in the country.

Being among potential economic cash crops within the country, wheat has been mostly grown by smallholder farmers in the Northern regions, specifically in Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara.

According to the Agriculture Minister, Hussein Bashe, the ministry is working tooth and nail to help support improvement of the vital economic sector.

He said, being at the ministry’s wheat major pilot project, the agricultural experts from the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) are teaming up with their counterparts from the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) in conducting professional soil testing at Makete District, Njombe region.

“The undergoing process focuses to determine areas within the district were wheat can thrive,” he informed.

He moreover said the exercise will see a huge number of farmers within the district imparted with best agronomic principles for the professional cultivation of the crop.