Experts: Include rainwater harvesting in irrigation plans

Men work at an irrigation scheme. Agriculture experts have underscored the importance of including rainwater harvesting in various irrigation projects in Shinyanga and Mwanza regions. PHOTO | FILE 

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