Dr Paul Saidia
By Senior Writer Valentine Oforo
COTTON Victoria Project (CVP), the country's major initiative which focuses to assist farmers to heighten production and productivity, is now working to reach out to at least 600,000 farmers in all regions with potential to grow the fibre crop within the country
The regions include Mwanza, Simiyu, Geita, Shinyanga, Tabora, Katavi, Kigoma, Singida, Tunduma, Morogoro, and Mara.
The development has been unveiled by the project's coordinator, Dr. Paul Saidia during the National Technical Committee Meeting, held over the weekend in Shinyanga region.
He briefed, the robust project has so far impacted a total of 517, 343 farmers in eleven regions with cotton production, saying the vision is to reach out to 600,000 farmers who are growing cotton in the country.
Through the project, he said concerned farmers are trained to adopt the recommended new planting space of 60 centimeters from row to row, and 30 centimeters from hole to hole, bringing the number of the cotton plants to 44,444 per acre from the formal 22,222 plants.
With the new planting space, Dr Saidia observed, the farmers are now managing to yield bumper, up to between 1,500 to 3,000 tons per acre, contrary to the former low yields of between 200 to 300 tons.
Moreover, he said through effective practical training, the farmers have successfully managed to develop and adopt use of biopestcides, as well as natural farming practices, to assist them containing various cotton diseases, including cotton jassids, American boll worms, and thrips, among others.
Through the initiative, he said TARI is bridging efforts with the BioSustain Tanzania Limited to train and mentor the involved farmers how best to develop and apply the various biopesticides in order to grow cotton organically, but also to withstand effects of climate change towards the fibre crop.
So far, he said a total of 217,060 farmers in the country have successfully adopted the new planting space.
"The new planting space has been greenlighted by the Ministry of Agriculture and thus, we're remaining optimistic that it will play major role to help elevate productivity of the cotton sub- sector even after phasing out of the project," Dr Saidia observed.
According to him, the farmers are also trained over seed dressing, the vital process of applying a thin layer of active product on the surface of the seed, this can be any organic or inorganic compounds, and it can also include pesticides, fertilizers, and some growth promoters.
The USD 5,802,019.08 worth project which is implemented jointly with others stakeholders including Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB), BioSustain Tanzania Limited, Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Brazilian Cotton Institute (IBA), and the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA).
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