Arusha — TANZANIA intends to spearhead horticulture because the nation’s legitimate automobile for achieving future agricultural pattern targets.
Deputy Minister of Content in the President’s Place of business (Planning and Investment), Mr Stanislaus Nyong’o, revealed that since horticulture predominantly employs females and childhood, it is far a key sector for job advent, boosting exports and ensuring food security.
“Horticulture grows at an annual rate of 11 per cent, while the entire agricultural sector grows at 12 per cent, highlighting the potential of the former,” he acknowledged.
Mr Nyong’o spoke at Nduruma Ward, Meru District, during the inauguration of the growth mission for Enza Zaden, an organic seeds growing farm in Arusha that develops high-quality kernels for export.
It was revealed that the horticulture sector in Tanzania has an export price of 668.7bn/- from a total production of 175,000 tonnes of salvage shipped international in the contemporary fiscal year.
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The Director of Gash Type in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Enock Chimagu, pointed out that Tanzania’s reliance on imported seeds has been decreasing year by year.
“We now produce 78.6 per cent of the kernels used in the country, having produced 71,356 tonnes of agricultural seeds in the fiscal year 2023/2024,” he acknowledged, praising the Dutch firm for additional contributions to horticultural seed production.
Mr Chimagu renowned that the horticulture sector has an export price of 668.7bn/-, a important increase from the 340bn/- recorded in 2021.
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Ambassador Wiebe de Boer, envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tanzania, mentioned that Enza Zaden is an exemplary Dutch firm, employing over 3,000 of us with more than forty five subsidiaries and three joint ventures for the duration of 26 countries.
“We are pleased that this Dutch company is collaborating with Tanzanians to achieve the goal of feeding the world healthily,” acknowledged the Ambassador.
Jaap Mazereew, Chief Executive Officer of Enza Zaden, revealed that the vegetable seeds produced by the establishment provide meals for over 100 million of us.
“Today, we operate in 26 countries, employing over 3,000 people, with 1,000 involved in research projects. Developing a new vegetable variety takes about seven to ten years,” he explained.
Operations Manager at Enza Zaden, Mr Gerald Matowo mentioned that their merchandise adhere to Excellent Seed and Plant Practices (GSPP), ensuring quality administration, work techniques and information provide follow international requirements.
