GRAPE farmers have appealed to the government to form a special body which will regulate prices and taxes imposed on the cash crop.
They told ‘africa-press’ recently that the body was vital to uplift the production of grapes, saying the board would help address some challenges facing grape growers.
“At the moment buyers set grape prices, posing a challenge to us. The price of grape stands at 800/- and 1,200/- per kilogramme,” said Mr Madeghe Kitange, a farmer from Msalato in Dodoma.
He noted that most local buyers were purchasing grapes at 800/- and 1, 200/- per kilogramme, saying the prices didn’t reflect the actual cost of cultivating the favourable cash crop.
Moreover, he said the farmers had been encountering several challenges, including low price during the rainy season due to a low quality of grapes caused by high humidity, high temperature and diseases.
“The quality of grapes in the dry season is high, but farmers have to keep their grapes on farms for a long time before harvesting to attain the required quality for wine production,” he said.
Another farmer, Mr Paulo Shana, raised concern over a challenge to obtain refractometer, a device for testing the quality of sugar content in grapes before harvest.
“Since the government has demonstrated concern over improving the cultivation of grapes it is good for the ministry to start by addressing challenges facing farmers,” he challenged.
Sharing his field experience, the proprietor of Dodoma- based Alko Vintage Wine Factory, Mr Archard Kato, said more was still needed to improve the cultivation of grapes and wine production.
“Despite being among the key cash crops in the country, cultivation of grapes still faces a number of challenges and farmers are yet to benefit from the cash crop,” he said.
“There are some groups of grape farmers in Hombolo, Mpunguzi and Mkulabi wards that have opened small-scale wine factories, thanks to our programmes,” he noted.
There are at least 1696 grape farmers in the region based in different 25 villages of Dodoma, Bahi and Chamwino districts, whereby, 10,052 tonnes were produced last year.
Globally, there are more than 360 types of wine grapes, but in Tanzania only three types are grown, namely Makutupora Reds (Cinsault), Cyrah (Shiraz) and Chinene.
