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Mwanza – The government wants to eliminate substandard cotton inputs in order to achieve its fair share of $ 30 billion in subsidies per sector, every season.
This occurred after the sector was flooded with substandard cotton-based pesticides in the local market, depriving farmers and the nation of the necessary income.
The situation has frustrated the government, thus ordering the Tropical Pesticides Research Institute (TPRI) to act on the matter urgently to avoid losses to farmers and the nation.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Innocent Bashungwa, said that he would not allow the situation to continue as a result of growing allegations regarding the dumping of fake pesticides, which is expensive for the economy.
"The government spends more than 30 billion euros worth of pesticides each season, but we have to be certain that this type of investment is optimized," Bashungwa told reporters. cotton sector over the weekend in Mwanza.
He warned, "We will not do justice to cotton producers who end up with lower input utilization losses". He said TPRI, in collaboration with the Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB), should work together to solve the problem.
The deputy minister criticized the cotton sector stakeholders for holding regular meetings but without proposing concrete solutions to the challenges facing the sub-sector, urging them to use these meetings to find concrete and viable solutions.
He blamed what he described as reactionary approaches to issues affecting the development of the cotton industry by asking why it took so long to resolve the issues raised by stakeholders, including productivity. mediocre and unpredictable in the realization of the cotton value chain.
Bashungwa said the TCB and stakeholders should intensify their farmer awareness campaigns on the best cotton growing procedures.
The country was better able to achieve impressive efficiency in cotton harvesting by eliminating the current 300 kg per acre and reaching 9 00 kg per acre, which is the best international practice.
Mr Bashungwa also instructed the Co-operatives Committee to work on good approaches that would lead to profitable cotton marketing strategies to boost farmers' morale, boosted by attractive prices.
Dr. J oe Kabisa, TCB vice-president, reiterated his usual call to the government to strengthen crop councils, especially the TCB, which he said was overburdened with many financial problems.
"We expect good harvests this season, but we could do even better if the cotton board has sufficient financial means, if fertilizers and other inputs are available on time and if extension services are improved" he said.
Previously, TCB Director General Marco Mtunga had made a number of suggestions to improve productivity in the cotton value chain, focusing on how the best inputs could reach farmers in a timely manner and how practical way.
Some of his suggestions included the introduction of a digital database of farmers where all their archives would be stored, a cotton marketing system put in place and some inputs obtained directly from the manufacturers instead of relying on agents.
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