A Kisongole Villager in Mbeya Region prepares her harvest for selling. Some 20,000 maize farmers in Mbozi District have benefited from new seed varieties developed by Uyole Agricultural Research Institute. PHOTO | GODFREY KAHANGO
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The project has enabled the farmers to boost production per acreage, according to the project manager from the institute, Mr William Mmary.
Mbozi. Some 20,000 farmers in Mbozi District, Mbeya Region, have benefited from new maize seed varieties developed by the Uyole Agricultural Research Institute (Ari).
The project has enabled the farmers to boost production per acreage, according to the project manager from the institute, Mr William Mmary.
“At least 20,000 farmers in Mbozi have been enrolled in the programme and are now benefiting with increased harvest,” he told The Citizen recently.
Mr Mmary said the institute is looking forward to working closely with extension officers in order to reach more farmers in the district.
The project for researching seeds at the institute is being sponsored by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra).
At his recent visit to farmers in Mbozi, the Agra representative from Kenya, Mr Querish Noordin, commended Ari for helping the farmers to access new seed varieties that enabled them to boost production.
Mr Noordin was in Mbeya to inspect the implementation of various agriculture projects, which were launched by the Agra’s chairperson, the former UN secretary general, Mr Kofi Annan, in 2006.
Speaking to The Citizen, the farmers said they were optimistic that the new maize seed varieties will increase their harvest this season. “It is quite clear that many farmers are now getting enough harvest, which is equal to the effort they apply in their farms,” said Mr Emily Mswima, a farmer from Lungwa Village in Mbozi.
He appealed to the government to facilitate them with easy access to agricultural inputs.
