Manyara — More than 370 farmers of maize, beans and vegetables in Manyara Region have commended President Samia Suluhu Hassan for constructing a canal and embankment to prevent floods in Kairo Basin Township council in Endiamtu Ward in Simanjiro District, Manyara Region.
Addressing journalists who visited a demonstration farm at Endiamtu Ward in Simanjiro District on Sunday, Tanzania Agro Agency Executive Director Ms Flora Marere said there has been a great response to irrigation agriculture among farmers of the crops after the Institute for the Agricultural Markets Development Trust (AMDT) sponsored demonstration farm training to the farmers through Agro Corporation Tanzania based in Njiro, Arusha Region.
She added that such positive response also came after President Samia facilitated construction of a canal and an embankment that prevent floods, a move that provided an opportunity for farmers to conduct irrigation farming.
"The main objective is to continue to provide more education to the farmers of these crops so that they can farm throughout the year and improve their livelihood through selling their crops and ensure food security", Ms Marere said.
Added: "We continue to provide education on how to produce quality seeds and obtain productive crops through irrigated agriculture using the existing wells in the fields, giving field training classes provided by research institutes for quality seeds and improving the cultivation of crops in the country."
She said they continue to provide education on production of better seeds so as to increase productivity through irrigation farming by using the available wells at their farms through the demonstration farm training,
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Mr Brison Mbuya is a farmer a maize farmer in a basin who said previously (before training) he used to harvest between five and seven bags per acre unlike now, where he harvests between eight and ten bags per harvest season after every three months in a year,
Earlier, a maize farmer Brison Mbuya said that he was used to harvest between five and seven sacks in one acre but after receiving training on demonstration farm he is harvesting between eight and ten sacks every season.
"We also express gratitude to Agro Tanzania Organization and the AMDT for the supporting farmers by providing them with modern planting machines where we have achieved positive results by planting three acres per day contrary to the previous time where we planted one acre per day.
