Proceedings of the 5th Scientific Conference of Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST)

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Browsing Proceedings of the 5th Scientific Conference of Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST) by Author "Fupi, George F."

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    Forage seed production for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in Tanzania
    (Rangeland Society of Tanzania (RST), 2023) Mtengeti, Ephraim J.; Kizima, Jonas B.; Fupi, George F.
    Sustainable intensification of beef and milk production in any country will rely on cultivated forages. Success of cultivated forages is not possible without the support of an aggressive and dynamic forage seed production to meet an increasing demand that currently stands at 22,954 tons while the production stands at 11.41tons per year in the country. Forage seed production in the country is less developed than food crop seed production. Currently there is no locally produced certified forage seed in the country. The seeds of most cultivated forage species and cultivars are either imported as certified seeds or acquired locally as naturalized varieties without certification. Uncertified seeds lack agronomic management record and encourage forage diseases and pest spread in the country. Tanzania, however, is a point of diversity of several potential forage grasses and few legumes species that have been adapted elsewhere. Typical example is Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu and Panicum maximum cv Tanzania with a participation of 70 % and 10 % in the Brazilian pasture seed market and by 1999 growing season B. brizantha and P. Maximum covered 35,000 and 6300 ha, respectively. The two grass pasture species obtained from Tanzania are not yet domesticated in the country and are still retaining their wild characteristics attributes which aid their natural spread but difficulties for their commercial seed production. As a consequence from 2019 to 2022 in total, 25.1 tons of 10 grasses, 2 legumes and 1 forb seeds have been imported for forage cultivation and soil conservation purposes. The imported grasses included B. Brizantha cultivars, Panicum maximum, Eragrostis curvula, Eragrostis teff, Chloris gayana, Cynodon dactylon, Pennisetum clandestinum, Lolium perenne, Phleum pretense, and Poa pratensis. The imported legumes were Trifolium repens and Medicago sativa and the forb was Cichorium intybus (Commander Chicory). Adequate forage seed availability for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in the country is possible, through development of an aggressive and dynamic forage seed production sub-sector supported by official research. Studies on agronomic factors influencing the adaptability of forage species, varieties or ecotypes would be useful for determining seed production technologies to increase seed production. These studies should go hand in hand with collection, preservation and characterization of our local forage germplasm resources to bring out the elite varieties or ecotypes for breeding and seed commercialization. Forage seed regulations chapter should also be included in the current seed act or grazing land and feed act. In order to commercialize forage seed production in the country, however, as for the food crop seed production Public Private Partnership must be engaged. This review paper therefore tend to expose the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of forage seed production for sustainable ruminant livestock intensification in Tanzania.