Tanzania to partner with India in irrigation schemes

TANZANIA will partner with India in establishing irrigation schemes in 22 largest water basins to boost agriculture output in the country.

“In this financial year, the government has allocated a huge amount of money for the construction of irrigation schemes in 22 large basins aimed at helping Tanzanians engage in irrigation farming,” said the Deputy Minister for Agriculture Mr Anthony Mavunde during the Tanzania and India Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) business roundtable on agriculture sector held in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.

He mentioned some of the water basins that will be covered by this project as Lake Victoria, Malagarasi River, Songwe, Manonga, Ifakara, Idete, Mkomazi, Pangani as well as the Rufiji River valley.

Mr Mavunde said that in implementing this, the government has already started the construction of more than 12 large dams at a length of 131 cubic meters of water.

In addition to that, Minister Mavunde said in this financial year a lot of money will be channeled to the production of quality seeds in the country.

“We want our country to be self-sufficient in the production of quality seeds through the Agricultural Seed Agency (ASA) together with other agricultural stakeholders inside and outside the country,” he said.

Minister Mavunde said that this year’s budget is focusing on developing and building the capacity of research centres.

Also, Mr Mavunde said that the development of research centres will go hand in hand with the improvement of existing laboratories to produce better seeds that will help the farmer reach his goal.

On his part, the High Commission of Indian in Tanzania Mr Binaya Pradhan said that Tanzania has been exporting more agriculture commodities to India such as tobacco, cashews, avocado and coffee.

“This cooperation in agricultural issues between these two countries means that Tanzania will be a leading country in the agriculture sector,” said Mr. Binaya.

He also thanked TPSF in collaborating with the High Commission of India in organizing the meeting that brought together various investors from these two countries.

On his side, the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) Chairman Mr Mahesh Desai identified some of the things that India has been using in irrigation as one of the leading countries in the world in agriculture sector.

He also said that Indian uses solar and green power for pumping water from the ground and for a long time.

Also, Mr Desai said in this modern agriculture there must be the use of natural resources that is compatible with irrigation.

Also, Mr Desai said that the government of India is working in their project to produce food in bulk so that they can have enough food in the country and supply for other countries.