AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA Breweries Public Limited Company (TBL Plc) has expressed its commitment towards barley farmers across northern regions, by enabling them participate in the parthenium Hysterophorus Weed Day event, organised by Tropical Pesticides Research Institute (TPRI) that was held in Arusha.
The annual event brings together various stakeholders from the agricultural and sectors to sensitise and provide education on effects and control of Parthenium Hysterophorus weed in the country.
Over the years, the company has collaborated with farmers to improve barley production in the country through providing them with seeds that are best suited to the soil and climatic conditions of Tanzania, as well as a guaranteed market for their produce.
TBL Plc’s Agriculture Manager, Joel Msechu said the company invited its farmers to attend the event in order to provide them with requisite knowledge on how to control Parthenium Hysterophorus weed, which is one of the major challenges they face during farming that consequently reduce their harvest.
“At TBL, we believe in the power of leveraging partnerships for sustainable development. The Parthenium Hysterophorus Weed Day is therefore, a networking opportunity for our sorghum and barley farmers which we believe will provide them with the necessary knowledge to address some of the challenges that they currently face in the field including the invasive weed which suppresses the growth of other plants,” said Msechu.
TBL is committed to support the government’s industrialisation drive through investing in the development and expansion of the barley programme to include 6,000 farmers in West Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Arusha, Iringa and Madaba as well as the building of a malting facility in Dodoma that will have the capacity to produce 32000 tonnes of malt.
The company is currently sourcing 74 per cent of its raw materials locally and is committed to increasing its local sourcing over the coming years.
TBL sources around 9,000 tonnes of sorghum for the production of its fast-growing affordable brands– Eagle and Bia Bingwa.
The brewer is implementing various programme with farmers that have greatly improved sorghum farming and proven to be conducive to improve both the yield and quality of sorghum in the country.
The Hysterophorus Weed is an invasive plant species that disturbs cultivated areas, roadside vegetation and gardens.
The Hysterophorus is considered as one of the worst weeds responsible for causing health problems in animals and humans like dermatitis, asthma and bronchitis, besides loss to agriculture and ecosystem.
Nowadays, it has become one of the major weeds in almost all types of agricultural lands and other areas.
There is no single option is suitable to control this invasive weed. The successful control of this weed can only be achieved by an integrated weed management approaches.
