Small scale farmers at Kilosa district in Morogoro region will begin to benefit from what they grow, if they are trained on modern farming as one way of solving the problem of unemployment, reduce poverty and create wealth as well as shift from the traditional farming system.
Evans Mlelwa, the corporate relations director for Serengeti Breweries Limited, said yesterday that the company has identified that the lack of knowledge of the benefits of commercial farming is a major impediment for smallholder farmers in the area, so SBL has introduced a demonstration farm for sorghum in Kilosa district. Farmers can learn from there as well as obtain training in modern farming, he said.
“As I speak to you right now a total of 130 acres of land has been cultivated on allocated land as demonstration farm at Kivungu and Madoto villages in Kilosa district,” he stated, noting that about 60 acres were allocated at Kivungu village and 70 acres at Madoto village.
The company decided to introduce a demonstration farm in this area so that it can attract farmers to shift from the traditional farming system to modern farming to produce high quality sorghum that meets market requirements for supplying to SBL or other areas, he said.
“This is a new strategy designed by the company to help farmers in the district to learn from it to boost their economic fortunes, create job opportunities for youths and women, cultivate crop that meets market requirements, improve farmers’ networks and facilitate the development of sorghum production within the region,” he elaborated.
Although SBL has established a demonstration farm in these areas, right now they are looking for people who can work in partnership because they have a large farm that need huge investments in terms of technology, agricultural implements, agricultural machinery and other requirements.
“We need people who can work in partnership with us in sorghum production because the demand is huge and we want to expand farms so that we can create employment , use local materials, and help farmers to produce high quality sorghum that meet SBL’s requirements,” he stated.
SBL was inviting people from various areas across the country, who are ready to collaborate with them to visit their offices for exchanging views on how they can collaborate in sorghum production.
He urged farmers in Kilosa district to embark on this type of farming as SBL will be ready to offer instructions on modern farming methods, provide seeds so that they can cultivate crops that meet market needs.
Farmers will also be trained on controlling pests and diseases along with post-harvest storage, which enhances the quality of their produce, he said, meanwhile as they will be linked to SBL to supply their crop, as a reliable market.
He said there is a need to educate farmers on commercial farming as right now there is a huge market for the sorghum crop.
“Although Tanzania is the main producer, farmers in various areas cannot meet existing demand as they lack access to seed varieties, capacity and technologies that would improve production in their farms,” he added.