TITLE:
Past, Present and Future Perspectives of Rice Production in Tanzania
AUTHORS:
Constantine Busungu
KEYWORDS:
Rice, Production History, Ecosystems, Challenges, Perspectives, Tanzania
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
11,
2023
ABSTRACT: Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L. and Oryza. glaberrima) is one of the most important food crops in the world. World rice production has increased three times since the green revolution. However, climate change and global warming effects as well as ever increasing world population will require the world to produce more rice without increasing area under rice production in order to meet those demands. The best option to overcome these challenges includes adoption of climate-smart technologies and sustainable solutions to rice production. Rice was probably introduced in Tanzania over 1000 years ago by Asian traders during trade contacts between Asia and East Africa Coast through Indian Ocean. Rice cultivation had been restricted to coastal area until 19th century when it started spreading to interior areas of Tanzania. During colonial period (1880s-1960s), the emphasis was to produce cash crops as raw materials for industrialized world. After independence production of rice increased significantly. Currently, rice is the second most important food crop in Tanzania after maize and Tanzania is the leading producer of rice in East African countries. It ranks 4th and 22nd in Africa and World respectively in terms of rice production. In this paper, the rice history, ecosystems, challenges and future perspective for sustaining rice production in Tanzania is reviewed.