By Richard Mrusha.
Dar es Salaam. The
Vocational Education and Training Authority (Veta) has developed a
soul-touching technology that helps farmers to produce fertile soil to yield
garden and vegetable seedlings before
being planted in farms.
Speaking to
journalists at the ongoing 48th International Trade Exhibition on July 6, 2024,
the Veta Engineering Joseph Kimako explained that farmers will simply collect soil
from mere forests and mix with rice husks and manure.
He said the soil
mixture is taken to the machine for boiling.
“Boiling water at
100 degrees and put the mixed-soil for thirty minutes to get the perfect
mixture of the soil,” he noted.
Previously, the
precious soil has been exported from abroad and sold in farmer’s equipment shops
so Veta decided to develop the technology to help the farmers prepare by
themselves.
“When you plan to
grow a tomato seeds, you simply prepare your soil on a big open-container to
yield your seeds at your convenient home," he explained.
The soils,
according tom, contains all necessary the nutrients needed for the plant to
grow due to the mixture of the forest soil, rice husks and animal manure that
can help the plant grow quickly during the spawning.
Engineer Kimako
said the technology was developed and tested since 2021. Veta has been
promoting the use of the soil in various exhibitions including Sabasaba and other
eight agricultural exhibitions.
He said fewer farmers who practiced the technology have been creating public awareness to fellow farmers on how to create and use the technology.