By Al-amani Mutarubukwa

Coffee farmers need a government subsidy to acquire improved crop varieties.

By so doing they will be able to increase productivity and meet challenges of climate change, Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI)  chief executive director James Teri said yesterday.

He was briefing journalists in Dar es Salaam on a partnership between his institute and Nestle to improve coffee farming.

"Farmers have woken up. They are aware that by using improved varieties, they are able to reduce production costs such as buying pesticides. What the government can do is to support them to access those inputs," said Prof Teri.

Last year, the country produced about 40,000 tonnes of coffee, but the Tanzania Coffee Board predicts this year's output to fall due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, Nestle has sponsored TaCRI coffee breeder Damian Mtenga for training   in somatic embryo genesis for one year at the Nestle Research Centre in France. 

He hopes the knowledge will help the institute to breed and develop new crop varieties.

"With the technology we will be able to produce millions of platelets in less than six months while maintaining the desirable characteristics such as high yields, disease resistance and favourable tastes," said Mr Mtenga.

He urged the government to speed up the refurbishment of TaCRI laboratories in Moshi to hasten the technology transfer.