Njombe — AS the government has significantly increased agriculture budget, sunflower farmers in Southern Highlands regions, particularly Njombe, Mbeya and Songwe have asked the government to continue involving various agricultural stakeholders in providing education on the use of quality seeds to increase production of such strategic crop.

In the 2023/24 the ministry's budget has increased to 970.8bn/- up from 751.1bn/- in the previous year, which is an increase by 29.24 per cent.

"Education on the use of quality seeds is of great importance to us as it will lead to positive results in production, so the government must continue to partner with various agricultural stakeholders to strengthen the provision of education among farmers," a resident of Wanging'ombe village in Njombe region, Ms Browness Chengula, appealed.

The residents made the plea on Friday during a media tour organised by the Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT).

AMDT that was established by the governments of Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland, has organised the tour to visit various strategic partners and beneficiaries of sunflower seeds project in Southern Highland regions.

The visit is part of assessment of the impact of its 5bn/- investment in facilitating various interventions intended to transform sunflower and pulses sub-sectors in the country.

In particular, Ms Chengula encouraged other small famers in the country to use quality researched seeds to increase productivity and raise their income.

"I encourage the farmers to stop 'business as usual' and instead use researched and quality seeds to increase the production...quality seeds are more beneficial than traditional ones," she said.

In related development, she asked the government to ensure the extension officers visit small farmers regularly so that they can identify various challenges facing them in order to find solutions.

Ms Chengula's comment was in line with other AMDT beneficiaries at Mayale village of Njombe region.

Ms Zuhura Mpinga, an owner of sunflower and maize mill, also underscored the importance of using quality seeds.

"For a farmer who uses quality seeds of an average of 100 kg, he or she can process 40 litres of pure sunflower oil, unlike the local seed, which can only extract 24 litres of pure oil from the same kilogrammes," she underlined.