Wheat and Barley research in the Southern highlands of Tanzania: a review of past progress and a focus on the future
Elanga, A.M|Kisandu, D.M / 1992

Research on wheat and barley began at UAC in the early 1970s with an emphasis on breeding for improved high yielding varieties and on the development of agronomic recommendation packages. the continuous flow of improved varieties resulting from this effort has increased production on both large and small scale farms in the Southern Highlands. Research findings indicate that the genetic yield potential of currently available varieties is 5 t ha4 for wheat and 4.5 t ha4 for barley. However, yields in farmer's fields are generally still very low, as a result of technological and socio-economic constraints at farmer level. The recommendation packages have been developed with the objective of alleviating some of these constraints but transfer of this technology to the rural farming community has been slow. In future the wheat and barley research programme plans to put greater emphasis on village on farm trials and demonstrations, as one way of enhancing the adoption of currently available technology.