Tanzania: Tari Studying Sugarcane Seeds

By Fatma Abdu

THE government, through the Tanzania Agriculture Research Institute (TARI), is researching on the

best sugarcane seeds that will be able to sustain different climatic conditions.

The move aims at helping sugarcane farmers, who for years have been facing challenges in planting sugarcane seeds that are able to survive difficult climatic condition.

Minister for Agriculture Japhet Hasunga said during the Farmers Field Day that TARI is doing everything in its capacity to resolve the challenge.

He was addressing sugarcane farmers from Kilombero and Bagamoyo districts. The function took place at TARI Kibaha centre on Tuesday.

The minister said the demand for the sugar was high in the country compared to production capacity among local industries.

"We are doing everything to improve sugarcane farming, which will also result in the increase of sugar production in the country," he said.

He said his office was collaborating with various stakeholders to ensure that improvements were made.

For his part, TARI Director General, Dr Godfrey Mkamilo, said that over the past five years, the government, through his institute, produced five new varieties of sugarcane- N30, N41, R 570, R 575 and R 579 that have been certified for irrigation.

He explained that the said varieties give more yields compared to traditional seeds. He said the new varieties produce up to 160 tonnes of sugarcane per hectare.

He added that the institution also produced four drought-tolerant varieties such as TZ93-KA-120, TZ93-KA-122, N47 and R570.