Tanzania to digitize seeds inspection, certification to boost quality
The Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) plans to build a digitized seeds laboratory aimed at boosting seeds inspection and certification in the East African nation, an official said Tuesday.
Patrick Ngwediagi, TOSCI director general, told a news conference in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, that the state-of-the-art laboratory to be built in the Morogoro region was part of efforts by the government to improve the quality of seeds for various crops.
“We have decided to construct the laboratory to improve our internal seeds inspection and certification standards to ensure that farmers are supplied with quality seeds,” said Ngwediagi.
He said the 400,000-U.S.-dollar seeds laboratory was part of the implementation of the Agricultural and Fisheries Development Program coordinated by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Ngwediagi said the program aims at enabling agriculture and fisheries to contribute toward economic development.
He disclosed the construction of the high-tech laboratory will go in tandem with the rehabilitation of TOSCI’s zonal seed laboratories.
The TOSCI, a government institute under the Ministry of Agriculture, is responsible for the certification and promotion of quality agricultural seeds produced or imported into the country for sale to safeguard the farming community from poor seeds from vendors of farm inputs.
