SINGIDA (Tanzania), March 24 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — SUNFLOWER is among 20 key crops included in the country’s Agricultural Transformation Master Plan 2050, aimed at addressing the shortage of edible oil amid growing challenges posed by climate change.
This was revealed recently in Singida by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Deputy Permanent Secretary for Crop Development and Food Security, Dr Hussein Mohamed Omar, during a meeting with sunflower farmers and processors. He emphasized that the government would continue educating farmers on the better use of improved seeds.
At the meeting, the Deputy PS acknowledged the ongoing challenge of importing cooking oil and wheat.
“Recognizing this challenge, the government has prioritized sunflower as one of the 20 key crops in the Agricultural Transformation Master Plan 2050. However, climate change and the lack of improved seeds remain major obstacles to increasing local production,” he noted.
To mitigate the effects of climate change, he stated that the government has implemented various strategies, including promoting irrigation farming and providing subsidized seeds to ensure stable yields and increased production.
On his part, the Chairperson of the Tanzania Sunflower Oil Processors Association (TASUPA), Ringo Iringo, said that to address the mentioned challenges, the organization has developed a strategy to promote the use of high-yield hybrid sunflower seeds to increase local production.
Explaining the purpose of the meeting, Iringo said it was to encourage the adoption of high-yield hybrid sunflower seeds, which would help boost domestic edible oil production and reduce the government’s burden of spending significant amounts on imports.
“Currently, the government is spending a lot of money importing cooking oil due to low domestic production, mainly caused by the use of traditional seeds that are not beneficial to farmers,” said Iringo.
“The adoption of hybrid sunflower seeds will help eliminate the shortage of this product in the country, easing the financial burden on both the government and citizens, as cooking oil prices keep rising,” he added.
He further noted that due to low production, many sunflower oil processing factories in the country operate for only a short period each year due to a shortage of seeds for oil extraction.
“Most factories operate for less than six months annually due to a lack of raw materials, mainly caused by poor crop yields among farmers,” he explained.
“Traditional seeds used by many farmers produce low oil content and have poor yields compared to the investment costs. This contributes to the high prices of cooking oil. However, if farmers switch to the hybrid seeds, we are promoting, they will significantly increase their output,” he said.
According to former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Antony Mavunde, Tanzania spends approximately 474 billion shillings annually to import cooking oil.
He stated that despite this expenditure, domestic production remains between 260,000 and 300,000 tonnes, while demand is 650,000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of 350,000 tonnes. — NNN-DAILYNEWS