TARI warns over increased soil acidity

TANZANIA Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) has warned over inappropriate increase in acidity level in the soil, a situation which poses threat to agricultural production.

TARI Soil Research Coordinator, Dr Sibaway Mwango, issued the alert earlier this week, during his official visit to Geita District Council with a view to promoting soil pH level maintenance.

He said the research conducted by TARI after collecting soil samples from different regions has revealed that high levels of soil acidity has led to poor soil fertility.

“The high soil acidity has affected plants’ ability to absorb soil nutrients, and in turn forced farmers to use a lot of fertilizers. Our farmers are not financially well to spend much on fertilizers, that’s why we still experience poor production,” he pointed out.

Dr Mwango further said the challenge has affected the level of soil nutrition and reduced the production of corn to five tonnes per hectare from 30 to 40 tonnes previously.

The Geita District Council Agriculture Officer, Mr Richard Kapyela, said in collaboration with the TARI they have come up with a project to improve soil health for productive farming.

He admitted that the research conducted by TARI Ukiriguru-Mwanza and Mlingano-Tanga colleges suggested for soil treatment using limestone.

A farmer in Ndelema village, Mr Paschal Lufulila, admitted that the solution of using limestone to control soil acidity has increased maize harvest from five sacks to 20 sacks per hectare.