Food shortages in Lake zone region #tanzania

THE Mwanza-based Ukiriguru Agriculture
Research Institute has vowed to enlighten rice growers on
the effects of climate in a quest to curb the looming
shortage of food in the Lake Zone.
The Principal Agriculture Research Officer at the Institute,
Mr Rashid Lusewa, told the 'Daily News' at the ongoing
Agri-business Expo here that one of the areas likely to be
affected by the climate change is the rice farming which
largely depends on availability of rains.
Mr Lusewa said that as a result of the situation, the Institute
has now embarked on public education for rice farmers to
shift from the traditional rice cultivation called 'Jaruba
System' to modern systems.
"Most of the rice farmers in the Lake Zone are still applying
the Jaruba system that unfortunately, apart from being
popular, has problems in holding water," he said.
The expert, who is also a Rice Breeder and Seed Scientist,
said this year's exhibitions will be used to advise farmers to
abandon the long term rice farming system that takes 125 to
160 days to mature and venture into the shorter one using
between 106 and 125 days.
According to him, climate change will remain the biggest
challenge to the economy of individual farmers and that of
the entire country if no immediate action is taken to address
it.
Already, he said, the government has released a directive
for the Institute to support farmers on the best farming
practices particularly abandoning traditional methods in
favour of the new technologies, seeds and inputs.
The Lake Zone and Shinyanga Region in particular has
abundant harvests of rice compared with other regions but
the records will not be sustainable if the Jaruba farming
system continues.
Farmers, said Mr Lusewa, are now advised to go for
recommended seeds like SARO5 that matures within three
to four months and avoid outdated seeds.
However, he said there was another serious concern on the
challenges of obtaining quality seeds due to increasing
importation of substandard rice seeds and inputs.
"Our efforts are being let down by the massive importation
and sale of substandard seeds including those sold on
subsidized price arrangements," he noted.
He mentioned the diseases threatening rice farming as Rice
Yellow Mottle Virus (RYMV), Bacteria Leaf Blight (BLB) and
Rice Blast terming them as dangerous to the crop consumed
by more than 90 per cent of the country's population.
Farmers, though, are strictly advised to be careful with
using chemicals in combating the mentioned diseases since
apart from many of them being expensive, they are also
feared to be substandard and counterfeited, Mr Lusewa
said.