Dar es Salaam: The approval of six new varieties of sugarcane will help in increasing the sugar production in Tanzania by 33% in four years.
The sugar output in the country is around 470,000 tonnes annually. The government is optimistic to increase the sugar output to 700,000 tonnes by 2024/25 farming season.
The government has for the first time approved its own sugarcane varieties and is expecting sugarcane production to increase in the next four years.
The sugarcane varieties were approved in January this year when the sugar mills at Kagera, Bagamoyo, Kilombero, Mukulazi I and II were expanding their plants.
Nyasebwa Chimagu, director, crop development, Ministry of Agriculture said that the new farming projects are being implemented in Ruvuma and Kigoma regions after approval of the new varieties.
“Farmers across the country have begun to plant new varieties that will increase sugar production to 700,000 tonnes by 2024-25,” he said.
