New sorghum variety bred by TARI and UKZN’s ACCI is top performer in Tanzania
A new sorghum variety bred by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) and the ACCI is the best performer in a seed multiplication field in the Nzega District of the Tabora Region in Tanzania. Tanzania authorities, including the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr David Silinde (left), and Dr Sophia Kashenge-Killenga, Chief Executive Officer of the Agriculture Seed Agency (ASA) visitied the sorghum stand in May this year.
Mr Silinde praised the performance of the new variety, TARISOR2, which is being multiplied under the pivot irrigation system covering 50 hectares. Dr Kashenge-Killengaa, an ACCI gtaduate, told the team that the new variety’s unique attributes are high yields and enhanced tolerance to bird damage and Striga infestation. In the photo she can be seen holding the pink-flowered Striga asiatica plants, a parasitic weed that is ravaging major cereal crop production across African small-scale farming systems. The seed of the new variety is being multiplicated so that certified seed can be issued to smallholder farmers in Tanzania.
TARI and the ACCI developed the new sorghum variety with funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and the University of KwaZullu-Natal in South Africa.