Maize yield per hectare in Rukwa plummets drastically

MAIZE production has drastically plummeted to 2.7 tonnes per hectare from five tonnes in Rukwa Region due to several factors including failure by the farmers to mull over extension officers know-how as wells as poor farming tools and large scale of cultivation of commercial plantations in the region.

Such revelation was made by the Regional Agriculture Officer from Rukwa Region Secretariat, Mr Hamza Mvano when presenting Rukwa region agriculture draft strategy for 2016- 17 season before the agriculture stakeholders and small scale farmers as well as environmentalists gathered here recently.

Mr Mvano further said that agriculture in the region has recorded low productivity according to farm research which show that an average of other food crops including cereals has dropped as rice production has also dropped to 6.0 tonnes per hectare from 3.4 , sunflower from 2.2 tonnes to 1.1 and wheat from 2.0 tonnes per hectare to 1.5.

He cited several factors that contributed to cereals low productivity including little application of agriculture inputs, poor farming tools and dependency of rain instead of modern irrigation farming. Other factors on the list are: - Restricted access to capital to invest on agriculture, lack of proper formal notice of competitive foreign and local markets and lack of large-scale cultivation of commercial plantations in the region.

“In a bid to improve food crops productivity to impart farmers in the region with the drip irrigation technology , agricultural education business and post harvest losses and grading their produces,” added Mr Mvano.

Expounding, Mr Mvano said that system warehouse receipt would continue be applied to ensure that farmers do not sell their produces at loss . “About 64 warehouses in rural areas with the capacity of storing 34,859 tonnes of produces and other nine ware houses will be rehabilitated through Better Results Now (BNR) programme.

Contributing a farmer, Mr Zeno Nkoswe, agriculture guidance and its season calendar should be in conformity with agro ecological zones such as Ufipa Plateau , Rukwa Valley and Lake Tanganyika Shores.

Section of participants expressed their concern over the meagre agriculture in puts through subsidised system which the region has allocated and called for more allocation.

According to Tanzania Fertiliser Company (TFC) Rukwa Region Manager, Mr Stephen Mtweve, said the region has been allocated 2,444 tones of fertilisers through subsidised system of which only 1,300 tones have been distributed to the farmers.

The latest statistics show that Rukwa Region has 1,660,600 hectare of arable land suitable for agriculture but during 2015 -16 farming season only 461,932 hectare equavalent to 29 per cent of arable land were cultivated.

Farmers in Rukwa Region are projected to cultivate 631,442.6 ha during 2016 -17 season out of which 503,527.8 ha are for food crops while 127,914.8 ha are for cash crops, the upshot is to realise bumper harvest of 1,674, 872.9 tonnes of food crops compared to 1,260,967.4 tonnes realised this season.

Source: Daily News