Tanzania: Irrigation Doubles Rice Production in Moshi

DOWN in Mabogini ward in Lower Moshi is one success story of how irrigation agriculture can change a farmer's fortune. Local farmers have increased land under irrigation from less than 300 hectares to over 1600 hectares, a development that has seen their rice production double and topping in the country.

It has infact, doubled from 3 tonnes per hectare to an average of 6 tonnes per year, effectively making it the highest producer in the country.

Kilimanjaro region authorities reveal in their reports that successes of the Mabogini irrigation project,which supports 2900 farmers, has also scaled up competition for water from the sources among the demarcated farmers and those not under the project, a challenge which calls for serious organisation mechanism on how resources should be used.

The Mabogini paddy rice irrigation project, sources water from river Rau and river Mabogini from the Kilimanjaro mountain. The manager of the project, Eng Hatibu Jengo, said that with over 1600 hectares of land currently under irrigation for rice, the life of over 2900 households had changed for the better with examples of brick and iron sheet houses, building of four secondary school in the area, building seven primary schools in seven villages, two dispensaries, a clinic and more than one meal for families per day.

Kilimanjaro Agriculture Technical Centre (KAVTC) gets prototypes of some of the agricultural machinery from Japan and makes bigger machines that suit the local working conditions of famers. The equipment comes under grant money from Japan with experts who train through the Japan International Cooperation.

The KAVTC principal Adam Pyuza said the Kilimanjaro project has been trickling down to other parts of the country. The initiative is part of the commitments to scale up agricultural irrigation, under which Tanzania targets to boost annual rice production from the current 800,000 to two million tonnes by 2018.

According to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expert Motonori Tomitaka, since the Tanrice training started, Kitivo irrigation scheme at Lushoto in Tanga has doubled paddy rice production from 2.9 tonnes in 2007 to 5.1 tonnes per hectare.

It had gone up from 2.1tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 3.4 tonnes per hectare under the Kiroka irrigation scheme in Morogoro. Paddy yields also went up from 3.6 tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 4.9 tonnes per hectare in 2009 under the Ilonga irrigation scheme in Kilosa.

The paddy yields have also gone up under Ruanda Majenje irrigation scheme in Mbeya from 2.4 tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 3.2 tonnes per hectare. Yields also went up from 3.2 tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 5.3 tonnes last year under the Sakalilo irrigation scheme in Sumbawanga.

The Titye irrigation scheme in Kigoma saw paddy yields increase from 2 tonnes per hectare in 2007 to 2 tonnes per hectare in 2009. There are currently 13 irrigation schemes under training in the 2009/2010 season and some 44 schemes will have got training by 2012.

Down in rural Tanzania, the project is part of the 2008 set Yokohama Action Plan under which Agriculture and Rural Development would be achieved through what they call Comprehensive "Glocal" (global and local) community development. It was planned based on the understanding that 70 per cent of the poor in Sub-Sahara Africa or 230 million live in rural areas, and increase in food production and agricultural productivity are critical for food security, poverty reduction and economic growth.

That while the agricultural sector can be a driving force for the African economy, the continuing increase in food, fertilizer and fuel prices has become ever more threatening to food security.

African countries have recognized the importance of the agricultural sector for development and are implementing NEPAD's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) that seeks to improve agricultural productivity to attain an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent by 2015.

As part of that agenda, African countries have committed, in accordance with the 2003 AU Maputo Declaration, to allocate at least 10% of national budgetary resources for agriculture and rural development within five years.

Support for agriculture under the TICAD process also includes attention to the environmental impact of agricultural activities, as well as the empowerment of women, who play a critical role in agriculture, and the encouragement of South-South cooperation including triangular cooperation.

Under the setting, actions to be taken in the next 5 years under the TICAD Process, since 2008, is to seek alignment with the CAADP agenda to:enhance capacity to increase food production and agricultural productivity, Improve access to markets and agricultural competitiveness and Support sustainable management of water resources and land use.

The idea, now turned into reality, was to provide assistance to expand agricultural research, extension and advisory services including for adaptation to climate change, development of new crop varieties and improvement of soil fertility and other farming technologies, and increase the number of agriculture professionals through support for agriculture- related education and training in a gender sensitive manner.

As it is being done through KAVTC, it was also to assist smallholders and farmers' organizations to adopt new technologies, expand agricultural land and the use of inputs and introduce appropriate machinery and equipment to raise productivity.

Increase rice production through developing capacities to adopt systematic crop management, and new methodologies including wider use of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), aiming at doubling the rice production in African countries in ten years.

At the national level, a new national irrigation policy, expected to raise crop production under irrigation, is currently at cabinet level and its approval is expected to raise agricultural land under irrigation from one per cent and subsequently scale up farmers' revenues.

A new government document reveals how the ministry will charter ways to increase agricultural revenue, noting that it would be part of the proposed target for the overall agricultural sector to grow by 5 per cent per year on an average over the 3-year period.

The sector employs 80 per cent of the labour force, contributes 26.7 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 30 per cent of foreign exchange. The government report, focusing on irrigation, states that various innovative and practical actions are included as part of its strategy such as a focus that agricultural productivity and profitability come first.

According to the Assistant Director of Irrigation, Research and Technology Promotion and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Eng Amandus Lwena, the government has placed priority on interventions such as rehabilitation of existing traditional irrigation schemes, construction of water harvesting schemes, construction of new irrigation schemes, construction of small, medium and strategic large scale dams and promotion of low cost and affordable irrigation technologies.

"As it is through irrigation that high, stable yields can be obtained, conducting research in irrigation is also necessary to meet the proposed agricultural growth," he said. The blueprint goes on to note that the derivation from the National Irrigation Master Plan of 2002 have shown that Tanzania has 29.4 million hectares suitable for irrigation with different levels of development potentials.

In them, some 2.3 million hectares have high potential, 4.8 million hectares have medium potential and 22.3 million hectares have low potential. Viewing this huge potential for irrigation it is only 310,745 hectares equivalent to 1 per cent of the total potential area, which has been put under irrigation.

Irrespective of this small area, being put under irrigation, it has been demonstrated that the yield response to irrigation is almost 2 - 3 times as compared to rain fed, which gives an indication that human societies will continue to rely on areas under irrigation for food security bearing in mind the possible high scope of crop intensification.

As part of its National Policies and Strategies, the Development Vision 2025 envisages that the economy will have to be transformed from a low productivity agricultural economy to a semi-industrialized one led by modernized and high productive agricultural as well as industrial and service activities in rural and urban areas.

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Eritrea: Farmers in Foro Sub-Zone Engage in Enhanced Rain-Fed Farming Endeavors With a View to Raising Harvest

Foro — Farmers in Foro sub-zone are engaged in enhanced rain-fed farming endeavors with a view to raising harvest on the basis of jointly cultivating around 4,000 hectare-wide area which is rich in alluvial deposits from rivers.

Reports indicated that the farmers have been provided with select seeds and tilling service, besides the fact that a new variety of sorghum is being introduced in the area which is mainly characterized with maize harvest.

Among the farmers, Mr. Ali Omar, Mr. Abdalla Mahmoud and Mr. Saleh Haj expressed conviction that the integrated efforts made in the process and the preparations made on the part of farmers would result in better outcome.

Indicating that the farmers demonstrated appreciable receptivity for the new instructions by experts, Mr. Tesfai Tewolde, head of the Agriculture Ministry's branch in the sub-zone, said that the ongoing venture is expected to result in double harvests, namely of sorghum and maize respectively.

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Eritrea - An African Country

Eritrea - An African Country from Zulfir Sadat

Office Gossips - Do's and Dont's

Bangalore undergraduates now on U.K. varsities’ radar

In a bid to woo high school students to study in under graduate courses in universities in the U.K., the British Council organised their first school mission in Bangalore. As many as 11 delegates from the U.K. participated to provide more information on their courses to eight city-based schools on Saturday.

The programme which was conducted this week ended on Saturday with a workshop where the schools were given presentations on various universities. 

 

Stating that there was an increase in demand for undergraduate courses by Indian students over the past few years, Jon Peach, international officer, London South Bank University, said the university had close to 250 Indian students. “Our workshop aims to raise awareness on the courses available at our university. We want to help students make an informed decision by giving them guidance on courses, fee structure and other formalities.” 

Mr. Peach also said that although the courses were expensive in the U.K., students were keen on pursuing courses in the U.K as they had a shorter bachelor’s degree courses. 

James Minhas, international officer, University of Birmingham, said Indian students normally chose their university to study engineering, law, business and economics courses. He said that while courses such as business and law were much cheaper, medicine and engineering were expensive. 

Talking about employability in the U.K after graduation, Mr. Peach said most students preferred to pursue their post graduation as the employability was high after post graduation. He said each university offered partial scholarships, but full scholarships were difficult to obtain. Mary Shirley, a teacher from the St. Germain Pre-University College, said information provided at the workshop would be of help to students as it would help them gather information on courses offered. 

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Chennai autos to have GPS, panic button

Soon, people in the city will get to travel in autos that have meters fitted with GPS and a panic button that passengers can press to alert officials about erring auto drivers. But this enforcement system may only be viable if there is tremendous logistical investment from the government, as recent experience in Delhi shows.

At the beginning of this year, the transport department in New Delhi had mandated that autos be fitted with panic buttons and GPS, but many users there say the panic buttons never worked. “It becomes difficult to constantly monitor 50,000 autos. With so much mapping and location information sent every minute from all of them, the maintenance costs are huge. So most times, the GPS would be off,” said a transport official.

The panic button is to ensure the safety of commuters – a passenger just needs to press it when she senses danger from stalkers or the driver himself. The GPS installed in the vehicle will immediately send details about the location and vehicle to the control room, which will send alerts to the police and transport officials.

The experience of Namma Auto, a city-based initiative that runs autos on metered charges and has panic buttons and GPS facilities, may help. 

“Considering we need at least 10 people to monitor the movement of 100 autos, for 70,000 autos, we will need a full-fledged control room with at least 400 trained professionals and secured servers that have dynamic content,” says M. Pramod, an IIT-Madras professor. “What happens if the driver switches off the panic button? There should be a way for the passengers to complain,” he says.

The transport department and police will need to decide who will take the initiative to reach the spot when they get the panic signal. “This has to be done quickly, otherwise it will be a huge failure,” said Prof. Pramod.

The system should also address complaints of passengers regarding exorbitant charges, said Smitha Sadasivan, assistant coordinator of disability legislation unit, Vidya Sagar, who feels persons with disabilities are fleeced by auto drivers and often even denied services.

According to sources here, tenders will soon be announced for meters embedded with the GPS kit that will have the GPRS facility, panic buttons and automated billing. The approximate cost of each meter will be Rs. 10,000. Auto drivers have been asked to re-calibrate their meters with the new fares before October 15.

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Pakistan trains to have coaches to offer prayers

PAKISTAN Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has ordered an establishment of a prayer place in the trains for passengers so that they can offer prayers during travelling.

In a notification issued on Sunday, the PR administration has started work on designing the prayer places in passenger coaches and soon coaches will be attached to trains where passengers can offer prayers conveniently. It was felt by the minister that passengers missed their prayers due to unavailability of a prayer place in trains, so he directed the PR administration to arrange prayer places in trains.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Railways earned additional Rs 225 million during the holy month of Ramazan and Eid-ul-Fitr days as compared to the previous year after giving concession on fares to passengers.

According to PR sources, about 16,000 passengers enjoyed the low rates during the holy month of Ramazan while more than 45,000 passengers travelled on Eid days.

The railways had introduced a Ramazan package during the holy month in which fares on several sections and trains was reduced upto 60 percent while it reduced the fare by 50 percent for all trains on all the classes including air-conditioned and economy classes across the country on the direction of PR Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique.

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Crossing red line on Syria will have severe consequences, Iran warns U.S.

Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri

An Iranian general has warned the United States against crossing the red line on Syria, saying any military intervention by Washington will have severe consequences. 


"The United States knows the boundaries of the red line of the Syrian front and any crossing of the red line on Syria will have severe consequences for the White House," the deputy chief of the general staff of Iran's armed forces, Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, said on Sunday in reference to recent hawkish remarks on Syria by U.S. officials. 

The war which is raging in Syria is the result of a plot hatched by the United States and certain countries in the region to undermine the resistance front against the Zionist regime, he said, adding that the Syrian government and people have achieved major victories in spite of the fact that a large bloc of enemies have launched a massive offensive against them.

"The Syrian government and people have the upper hand in the imposed war (waged by) terrorists (and backed by) the global arrogance (forces of imperialism) and reactionaries, and the propaganda campaign mounted by Western media outlets is due to Syria's achievements in dealing with its enemies," he said.

According to AFP, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday the U.S. military was ready to take action against the Syrian government if ordered, but stressed that Washington was still evaluating claims of a chemical weapons attack.

"President Obama has asked the Defense Department to prepare options for all contingencies. We have done that," Hagel told reporters in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

"Again, we are prepared to exercise whatever option, if he decides to employ one of those options."

He said the U.S. and its allies were assessing intelligence on allegations that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons in an attack against armed rebels near Damascus last week.

"I would not go further than that, until we have more intelligence based on facts," Hagel said. 
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LG’s curved OLED TV hits European market

LG Electronics has launched the sales of its curved OLED TV in Germany, company officials said Sunday.

Slated to hold a launching event of the product at the HIFI Profis electronics trade show in Frankfurt on Wednesday, the home appliance maker said it would soon begin selling the product in other European countries.

“LG is fully committed to delivering the most advanced OLED TVs to European customers,” said Lee In-kyu, vice president and head of the TV division at LG’s home entertainment company. “With next-generation display technology and an ultrathin curved design, our curved OLED TV represents the beginning of a new era in home entertainment.”

The TV market will see 7 million curved TVs sold worldwide by 2016, with 30 percent of them sold in Europe by 2017, according to Display Search, a research firm,

The curved TV is designed to enable viewers to experience rich colors through LG’s proprietary WRGB (white, red, green and blue pixel) technology and thorough immersion with the concave display, LG said.

The premium TV with a 4.3-mm-wide body weighing 17 kilograms has been certified by international product testing institutes including TUV Rheinland, Intertek and VDE for its unsurpassed picture quality.

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Eco cars on rise as petrol prices climb - Bangalore

As petrol prices continue to climb, a number of Bangloreans are gradually recognising the merits of using eco-friendly cars.
V K Shetty, a businessman who has been driving an electric car for some time now, spoke of the tangible financial benefits of using his eco-friendly Reva car.

“I save at least Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 on fuel per month and it is as efficient as any petrol or diesel-powered car,” he said. Shetty who owns two petrol-based cars is so convinced about his environmental-friendly method of commuting that he plans to buy a second electric car as a gift for a loved one.

As many as 150 users of electric cars participated in what has been described as the ‘largest rally of electric cars in India’ here on Saturday.

The so-called ‘Freedom Rally’ was organised by the Mahindra group.

A software professional, Anand Sawant, who participated in the rally, did not bat an eyelid when he vouched for the efficiency of electric cars. Sawant hardly uses his petrol cars these days as his electric car is more than enough for his daily commuting needs.

“I have two cars that run on petrol, but I use them only for long distance journeys,” he said. “My electric car, on a full charge, gets me through the day with ease.”

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Flavored cigarettes not a safer alternative

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The John Tung Foundation (JTF, 董氏基金會) yesterday requested the government amend laws regarding the control of flavored cigarettes and electronic cigarettes as soon as possible due to the slow decline in teen smoking rates. 

Civil groups like JTF demanded the government forbid the manufacture, import and sale of flavored cigarettes and electronic cigarettes so as to lower the chance that teenagers will start consuming tobacco.

With a view to reducing the strong smell of tobacco and making it more acceptable for youngsters, spices such as mint, flower and fruit have been added to some.

According to the latest data announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the consumption of flavored cigarettes by youngsters in the U.S. aged 18-25 increased by 3 percent; the general smoking rate of U.S. adolescents above 12 increased from 13 percent to 16 percent between 2004 and 2010.

Huang Song-li (黃嵩立), the secretary-general of Taiwan International Medical Alliance (TIMA), said that over 40 percent of young smokers in the U.S. favor menthol cigarette while young female smokers in Taiwan prefer flavored cigarettes.

Although the smell of flavored cigarettes is less pungent, the nicotine content is the same as standard cigarettes, Huang said. Huang said that after a string of interviews with teenagers he discovered adolescents develop a smoking addiction within as little as a month or two.

Lin Qing-li (林清麗), a JTF director, said that Australia, Brazil and the European Union have already forbidden flavored cigarettes while the U.S. and Canada have banned all kinds of flavored cigarettes except for menthol cigarettes.

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Research finds washing clothes in cold water can breed bacteria

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The use of front loading washers, gentle laundry detergent and low-temperature washes turn the average spin cycle into a breeding ground for germs instead of killing potentially harmful bacteria, a new study shows. 

A microbial assessment to evaluate the infection risks associated with laundry found an estimated average of 0.1 grams of fecal matter remains on every pair of “clean” underpants. According to the UK's Daily Mail, low-temperature washes are not strong enough to kill potentially contagious germs including salmonella, E. coli and norovirus.

Lisa Ackerley, a leading hygiene expert, called for an increased awareness of what is being termed the “Sick Laundry Cycle” due to the levels of bacteria found by microbiologists in washing machines and on supposedly “clean” laundered clothes.

“Consumers believe that normal laundering produces 'clean' clothes, but this does not necessarily translate to 'hygienically' clean,” said Ackerley.

The “Sick Laundry Cycle” isn't just about the inadequate removal of bacteria from contaminated clothes; cross-contamination also plays a part, according to Ackerley.

“If you put something ridden with bacteria in the washing machine, you will simply be swishing the germs around — creating a 'bacterial soup,'” added Ackerley.

Items that are most likely to be contaminated with pathogens are those which have direct contact with the body, such as underwear, towels, facecloths, handkerchiefs and bed linens, Ackerley said. Studies have shown that a build-up of bacteria in the interior of the washing machine transfers to the wash water of subsequent cycles with as many as one million bacteria found in just two tablespoons of wash water.

Low-temperature washing provides optimal conditions for germs to breed and multiply in possible hideaways such as the detergent drawer and door seals, Ackerley explained. The trend toward reducing washing temperatures and water volumes alongside using gentler detergents has affected the efficacy of the laundering process for reducing bacteria on contaminated clothing. It's time to re-evaluate the hygiene of our laundry, added Ackerley.

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