Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

agricultural sector with skilled engineers and machines, they can design andmanufacture many agricultural implements. TEMDO is an applied engineeringresearch and development institute that designs and manufactures manual andengine-driven postharvest equipment. It produced 10 rippers and subsoilers forthe Soil Conservation and Agroforestry Programme in Arusha. CARMATEC inArusha deals in animal-drawn rippers and mouldboard ploughs. It made morethan 150 jab planters (Bishop-Sambrook 2004).Tanzania Farmers Service CentreIncorporated in the 1990s, Tanzania Farmers Service Centre Ltd (TFSC) is aprivate company that provides small- and medium-scale farmers with agriculturalservices. It sells agricultural machinery, provides workshops on equipment repairand hires out machinery. The organization also holds workshops and courses onsustainable agriculture, using agricultural machinery and efficient crop production.It provides machinery for demonstration trials, seeds and expert support forconservation agriculture. In 1999, the centre started on-farm trials with conservationagriculture, mainly in cover crops combined with direct planting, using hand andanimal-drawn seeders. It contracted with SARI to conduct the on-farm field daysand training workshops, which were technically and financially supported by theGerman Development Bank and GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für TechnischeZusammenarbeit). In Arusha in 2003, the centre organized the first nationalworkshop on conservation agriculture (interview with TFSC manager). CASARDuses the experience gained in Arumeru. The Arumeru District centre hires out subsoiling and direct planting equipment to commercialfarmers.Tanganyika Farmers AssociationThe Tanganyika Farmer Association (TFA) is the only agricultural supplier withordinary farmers as members. For a membership fee of TZS 15,000 (USD 15)farmers receive a discount on purchases, access to credit, a share in dividends andget free advice (Bishop-Sambrook et al. 2004). It has branches in several regionsand districts. They conduct small-scale farmer days every August 8, nane nane, andensure farmers get quality supplies at reasonable prices. Because of its reputationwith small-scale farmers, Nandra used the farmers association to distribute itsconservation agriculture implements, such as rippers, chisel ploughs and ripperplanters. However, neither the Tanganyika Farmers Association nor Nandra havesystems to introduce technology to farmers or get feedback on them.MonsantoThe private company Monsanto has been marketing Round-Up herbicide in thedistrict through demonstrations in farmers’ fields comparing zero-tillage withconventional practice. According to Emmanuel, a farmer in Kikatiti, Monsantocarried out the trials with minimal farmer involvement; the harvest was given tothe participating farmer as reward for offering the land for trials. Most farmerswho had Monsanto trials increased yield during the trials but later the AtrazineArumeru District 21