Ili shamba lina zaidi ya miaka 45 na mpaka reli ilijengwa kwenda maeneo yale.
Tungekuwa tumeliendeleza huu uhaba wa ngano sasa ingwekuwa kuna ahaueni.
Nadhani ni mda muafaka wadau sector binafasi kwa kushiriana na serikali kufufua kilimo cha Ngano aya maeneo.
Pata habari kamili kuhusu ili shamba la ngano ndo ujue kwenye miti hakuna wajenzi.
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When the Canadians in co-operation with the TZ Government embarked on the big wheat production project about 45 years ago, more than 350 000 ha of the best land was taken away from the pastoralists using it for grazing cattle. The Canadian extensive strategy of wheat production, without using fertilizers, produced annually between 25 000 and 50 000 tons of wheat, depending on the rains.
By then it contributed to about 10 % or less of the demand for high quality wheat in Tanzania. The best wheat farmers in Europe, or Zambia, are getting yields 5 times or more per ha. This is equivalent to 125 000 tonnes or more from an area as big as all the seven “Canadian” wheat farms in Hanang.
Why are these facts important?
At present, the total demand for wheat in Tanzania stands at about one million tons. The Tanzanian production is about 100 000 tons, or 10 % of the demand. The deficit of 900 000 tons is imported, using huge amount of foreign exchange. It makes good sense to invest in food production in Tanzania and save foreign exchange by closing the gap between demand and supply by food produced locally.
The big challenge is
to use land more efficient; doubling or more the yields per ha of cereals and to establish more
sustainable and productive food productions systems.
Efficient use of land - higher yields per ha
Many factors might influence the yield. Water and plant nutrients; - fertilizers or manure - are among the more important ones if the farmer has good and disease resistant varieties of the crops. Looking at the yields at Mulbadaw, Murjanda, Setchet and ..... farms, the average yields are not different from the yields obtained 40 years ago. The main production strategy is still rather extensive. There has been none or only negligible efforts in making the land more productive.
These farms are all owned and run by non-citizens through shareholder companies registered as “Tanzanian” companies. The mode of production is large-scale monoculture of wheat, using big tractors and aeroplanes for spraying pesticides.
One of the main objectives of HDC was to improve yields from the historic average yields in the area of less than 1,5tons/ to 3 tons/ha. The company hired a senior Tanzanian wheat specialist in breeding and production and established a research and development program addressing soil fertility and variety challenges.
The late Dr. Ole Hallgrim Evjen Olsen at Haydom Lutheran Hospital (HLH) suggested already in 2004, when the process of buying Mulbadaw was initiated, to construct shallow dams at Mulbadaw for harvesting of rain water and to use this for securing better yields of the crops. In 2006, HDC hired the services of Ingar Kvia and the soil moving equipment he brought to HLH to construct one shallow dam, in order to gain practical experiences with shallow dams at Mulbadaw.
The main wheat growing areas in Australia has a rolling landscape similar to that of the wheat growing areas of Hanang. HDC received a team of three Australian irrigation specialists from the wheat growing area in Australia where rain harvesting has become an important strategy for higher and more reliable yields of wheat.
The team concluded that the landscape and rainfall pattern of Mulbadaw and Bassotu is ideal for rain harvesting. There is experience from Zambia indicating that rain harvesting and irrigation is profitable. One company investing in irrigation of wheat there had an ambition of getting 6 tons/ha from irrigated and fertilized fields. They got 10 tons/ha, - same yield as the best wheat growers in Europe are getting with similar inputs.
Sustainable production systems
There is much to be wanted in form of sustainability from what I see at present.
Water management
Much of the rain falling over the Basotu farms is lost from the production fields, flooding Lake Basotu in years of heavy rains. There is soil erosion and hence silting of Lake Basotu. Even in years with a high rainfall, crops might suffer during long dry spells and impede growth and development of the crops. Rain harvesting and irrigation contributes to sustain yield at high levels. Same amount of wheat can be produced using less land. Water harvesting might thus be a sustainable strategy for diversification of agricultural production systems, including other crops for proper crop rotations, livestock and useful trees.
Soil fertility and soil productivity
After more than 45 years with wheat, the infection pressure from wheat diseases and pests is high. Noxious weeds have been combated by spraying large amounts of glyphosate (‘Round Up’) on the fields before planting. Pests and diseases are sprayed from the air, using chemicals that might be harmful for the people living in the vicinity of the farm. Run off from the fields pollute drinking water for cattle and man. Crop rotation and proper soil cultivation might be a more sustainable strategy for obtaining sufficient control with some weeds and harmful diseases and pests.
Source :
Haydom Development Company
The erratic and often insufficient rainfall cause low efficiency of fertilizers in most years, using conventional methods of application. Trials conducted by HDC at Mulbadaw in 2006 and at Setchet in 2007 demonstrated the tremendous effect of adding fertilizers to the soils of these farms, providing that the crop gets sufficient water
[3].
A crop getting sufficient “food” in the form of fertilizer is much more competitive towards competition from weeds and damage by wheat diseases and pests.
