By Miguel Suleyman,The Citizen
In Summary
- The ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives has directed Tanzania Cotton Board to make the irrigation project a priority in a bid to boost production.
- With major irrigation projects being carried out across the Lake Zone regions, agriculture experts insist that tapping of rainwater, which is wasted in most areas of the zone
Mwanza. Agriculture experts
have stressed the need to include rainwater harvesting in various
irrigation projects in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions.
With major irrigation projects being carried out
across the Lake Zone regions, agriculture experts insist that tapping
of rainwater, which is wasted in most areas of the zone, can help to
offset the costs of irrigation, promote soil conservation and provide an
alternative to watering restrictions during a severe drought and, in a
small way, reduce flooding and clean streams.
An expert from Ukiriguru Agriculture Research
Institute and a breeder of the newly developed cotton seed, UKMO8, Dr
Evelyne Lukonge, insisted the improvement of rainwater harvesting
technology in the irrigation set up, especially in areas that are far
from Lake Victoria.
“Rain water harvesting and storage can add a
dimension to the success of drip irrigation, which I think can serve as
one of the measures to fight the effects of climate change that has
affected cotton production for many years,” she noted.
Adding, Dr Lukonge and the research institute’s
director, Mr January Mafuru, said irrigation and rainwater harvesting
can give Lake Zone farmers a permanent solution to drought to ensure
agriculture maintains its role as the best employment and nutrition
provider.
Both researchers claimed that use of irrigation
technology was a vital means of producing quality cotton which can help
Tanzania produce the cotton of Egyptian quality.
Dr Lukonge, the breeder of the new cotton seed,
UKMO08, believes farmers will continue to face serious limitations if
they opted not to implement the technology
Egypt, whose cotton solely depends on River Nile
water, has been the top producer of cotton in Africa at both quality and
quantity levels, a position the experts claimed could be achieved in
Tanzania
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