Smallholder
farmers involved in cassava cultivation in Magu district, Mwanza
Region, and Bunda, Musoma Rural, Butiama and Rorya districts in Mara
Region, have abandoned the crop due to cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and
cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) infestation.
They said the two diseases have infested the crop, leading to dwindling yields and thus forcing most smallholder farmers to shift to other important crops such as maize.
Cassava is a very important food crop as well as a cash crop, not only in the country but in the African continent as well, but several biotic and abiotic factors continued to devastate it, leading to low and unprofitable yields.
Recently, farmers in the districts said the government needed to contain the diseases if cassava production in the areas is to increase.
They said other areas in Mwanza, Geita, Simiyu, Mtwara, Lindi, Shinyanga, Tanga Ruvuma, Mara, Kigoma, Coast regions, including Zanzibar, with high cassava production also faces similar disease threats.
They were speaking during a biotechnology awareness programme organized by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology Tanzania (OFAB)-Tanzania, in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH).
Evarist Manyama a smallholder cassava farmer in Busamba village, Etaro ward, Musoma Rural District told researchers from Costech in the company of of district and regional agricultural officers from Mara region, that they have stopped cultivating the crop due to the threat of the two diseases.
Hemed Rajabu said both the CMD and CBSD have infested their areas for a long time with agricultural initiatives of cleaning and improving cassava stems through cuttings known as Mkombozi aimed at wiping out the disease hitting a snag.
“Here in Etaro ward, most farmers have failed to get bumper harvest of cassava because of the disease infestation” he said.
Emmanuel Kassim, also a smallholder farmer in the area, said they had experienced rotting of the stems and roots when cassava reaches production stage leading to low yield of the crop.
Dishoni Misana, for her part, said they started experiencing disease infestation in the area 20 years ago as their crop leaves started to wither and stunting with farmers experiencing low yields of only a container of flour from the field.
However, he also pointed out poor farming methods as among others as farmers continue to plant infected stems leading to poor yield.
OFAB-Tanzania Principal Research Officer Dr Emmarold Mneney, concurred in response to farmers sentiments saying the two diseases are a threat to food security in the region as they attach at its germination stage.
He said however that researchers were working around the clock to come up with a biotechnology to eventually eliminate the two diseases in the region and the country at large.
“The rate at which the viruses of the two diseases are multiplying really shocks us because most farmers are ignorant of the disease by planting infected stems” he said.
According to him, diseases, shortage of planting material; drought, poor soil fertility, use of varieties with low genetic potential; and low adoption rates of research recommendations are among the things dwindling cassava production not only in Tanzania but Africa at large.
Others also include limited knowledge and lack of extension personnel, topped with severe logistical problems in most regions where cassava is grown.
Low level of interaction between researchers and extension agents has also contributed to the farmers' lack of improved varieties. And low level of utilisation of cassava and poor post-harvest handling techniques of cassava at farm level.
Cassava is an important subsistence food crop in the semi-arid areas and sometimes considered as a famine reserve cereals fail due to its drought tolerance and the fact that the roots can readily be stored underground.
According to findings from the then ministry of agriculture, food security and cooperatives, the annual production of fresh cassava in Tanzania before the invasion of the mentioned insidious diseases was seven million metric tonnes.
In sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia cassava is a staple food and is eaten by over seven hundred million people. However, two thirds of more than 18 million ha, of cassava cultivated worldwide are produced in Africa.
Nearly every person in Africa eats around 80 kilograms of cassava per year. It is estimated that 37 percent of dietary energy comes from cassava. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest consumer of cassava in Sub Saharan Africa, followed by Nigeria.
OFAB Tanzania is a platform to facilitate regular exchange of credible information among stakeholders. It aims at identifying key biotech issues and stakeholders for effective outreach and informed engagement by enhancing knowledge sharing and awareness to raise understanding and appreciation of potential benefits of agricultural biotechnology.
They said the two diseases have infested the crop, leading to dwindling yields and thus forcing most smallholder farmers to shift to other important crops such as maize.
Cassava is a very important food crop as well as a cash crop, not only in the country but in the African continent as well, but several biotic and abiotic factors continued to devastate it, leading to low and unprofitable yields.
Recently, farmers in the districts said the government needed to contain the diseases if cassava production in the areas is to increase.
They said other areas in Mwanza, Geita, Simiyu, Mtwara, Lindi, Shinyanga, Tanga Ruvuma, Mara, Kigoma, Coast regions, including Zanzibar, with high cassava production also faces similar disease threats.
They were speaking during a biotechnology awareness programme organized by the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology Tanzania (OFAB)-Tanzania, in collaboration with the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH).
Evarist Manyama a smallholder cassava farmer in Busamba village, Etaro ward, Musoma Rural District told researchers from Costech in the company of of district and regional agricultural officers from Mara region, that they have stopped cultivating the crop due to the threat of the two diseases.
Hemed Rajabu said both the CMD and CBSD have infested their areas for a long time with agricultural initiatives of cleaning and improving cassava stems through cuttings known as Mkombozi aimed at wiping out the disease hitting a snag.
“Here in Etaro ward, most farmers have failed to get bumper harvest of cassava because of the disease infestation” he said.
Emmanuel Kassim, also a smallholder farmer in the area, said they had experienced rotting of the stems and roots when cassava reaches production stage leading to low yield of the crop.
Dishoni Misana, for her part, said they started experiencing disease infestation in the area 20 years ago as their crop leaves started to wither and stunting with farmers experiencing low yields of only a container of flour from the field.
However, he also pointed out poor farming methods as among others as farmers continue to plant infected stems leading to poor yield.
OFAB-Tanzania Principal Research Officer Dr Emmarold Mneney, concurred in response to farmers sentiments saying the two diseases are a threat to food security in the region as they attach at its germination stage.
He said however that researchers were working around the clock to come up with a biotechnology to eventually eliminate the two diseases in the region and the country at large.
“The rate at which the viruses of the two diseases are multiplying really shocks us because most farmers are ignorant of the disease by planting infected stems” he said.
According to him, diseases, shortage of planting material; drought, poor soil fertility, use of varieties with low genetic potential; and low adoption rates of research recommendations are among the things dwindling cassava production not only in Tanzania but Africa at large.
Others also include limited knowledge and lack of extension personnel, topped with severe logistical problems in most regions where cassava is grown.
Low level of interaction between researchers and extension agents has also contributed to the farmers' lack of improved varieties. And low level of utilisation of cassava and poor post-harvest handling techniques of cassava at farm level.
Cassava is an important subsistence food crop in the semi-arid areas and sometimes considered as a famine reserve cereals fail due to its drought tolerance and the fact that the roots can readily be stored underground.
According to findings from the then ministry of agriculture, food security and cooperatives, the annual production of fresh cassava in Tanzania before the invasion of the mentioned insidious diseases was seven million metric tonnes.
In sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia cassava is a staple food and is eaten by over seven hundred million people. However, two thirds of more than 18 million ha, of cassava cultivated worldwide are produced in Africa.
Nearly every person in Africa eats around 80 kilograms of cassava per year. It is estimated that 37 percent of dietary energy comes from cassava. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest consumer of cassava in Sub Saharan Africa, followed by Nigeria.
OFAB Tanzania is a platform to facilitate regular exchange of credible information among stakeholders. It aims at identifying key biotech issues and stakeholders for effective outreach and informed engagement by enhancing knowledge sharing and awareness to raise understanding and appreciation of potential benefits of agricultural biotechnology.
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