Majaliwa assures fertiliser availability 

PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has assured farmers of availability of adequate fertilisers in this farming season, calling upon them to use the subsidised farm inputs to boost their yields.

Equally, the Premier directed all Regional Commissioners to make sure that there are enough agents to distribute the fertilisers in their respective areas.

Majaliwa also instructed the regional authorities to   oversee the entire exercise for the agents to deliver the fertilisers as agreed.

Mr Majaliwa made the assurance when addressing a rally at Nkasi District on Wednesday during his three-day working tour to inspect development projects being implemented in the region.

The subsidised fertilisers have special bags marked with a barcode and a specific label to differentiate them from other fertilisers which are not subsidised.

“The country has adequate fertiliser what is need is for farmers to register themselves so that they can buy the farm input at subsidised prices.”

“In the 2022/23 financial year the government through the Ministry of Agriculture allocated 150bn/- to subsidise fertiliser prices so as to help farmers increase their crop output” emphasised Mr Majaliwa.

Equally the Premier assured farmers of a timely availability of fertilisers in this farming season.

Under the subsidy arrangement a bag of DAP that was sold for 150,000/- now will cost 70,000/- only while that of Urea which used to fetch 140,000/- will cost 70,000/-.

Others on the list including CAN that was sold for 120,000/- will now cost 60,000/- whereas SA that used to fetch 80,000/- will now cost 50,000/-.

Under this arrangement the government will pay for a 52,000/- subsidy.

Tanzania has increased its local capacity of fertiliser production, a move that assures farmers  of  ease accessibility of the input for  improved harvests.

The latest reports show that last year, there were a total of 62,000 tonnes of fertilisers that were produced within the country while the production is expected to go up this year.

This year, Minjingu Fertiliser Company will provide 70,000 tonnes to be sold under subsidisation arrangement.

The government also expects to have fertiliser from the Intracom factory being built in Dodoma that will provide over 100,000 tonnes.

As per latest statistics, the actual demand of fertiliser in Tanzania stands at an average of 700,000 tonnes, however in the last farming season the consumption was only 450,000 tonnes.

The fertilisers subsidy arrangement comes after the government increased the budget for agriculture from 250bn/- in the 2021/2022 financial year to 952bn/- this 2022- 2023.