MEMBERS of Parliament have hailed President Samia Suluhu Hassan for raising the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture budget and called upon the government to throw its weight behind irrigation farming. In the current financial year, the Ministry for Agriculture was allocated 294bn/- but in the next budget the government will spend a whopping 751bn/- for the sector, an increase of 155 per cent.
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Most legislators who contributed to the new budget speech said given the effects of climate change on the agriculture sector, continuing to rely on rain-fed agriculture will not take the country anywhere. Other MPs called upon the government to start subsidising inputs for coffee farming to increase exports. John Sallu (CCMHandeni Rural) said Tanzania is endowed with an uncountable number of arable basins or valleys suitable for supporting irrigation farming. He said investing in irrigation farming will help transform the sector. Condester Sichwale (CCM-Momba) called upon the government to lay emphasis on irrigation agriculture, saying Momba Constituency in Songwe region is rich in arable valleys suitable for rice farming. According to the MP, Momba residents have been supplying rice to Tunduma residents, including citizens in some parts of DR Congo and Zambia. She said if irrigation schemes were introduced in the area crop productivity will go up. Hamis Tabasamu (CCM-Sengerema) ...
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