The

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

first introduced maize production in Tanzania on

Pemba Island Pemba Island ( ar, الجزيرة الخضراء ''al-Jazīra al-khadrā'', literally "The Green Island"; sw, Pemba kisiwa) is a Tanzanian island forming part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, lying within the Swahili Coast in the Indian Ocean. Geog ...

in the 16th century, and by 17th century, maize production spread to other parts of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

including the Tanzanian

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

. Production of

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

expanded until recent years. However, Tanzania is still a leading country for maize production in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

Cultivation

45% of Tanzanian land is used for maize cultivation in which 4.5 million of

households A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

utilize their land for maize cultivation. The contribution of smallholders is 85% of the total national cultivation with the rest of contribution being from community farms and large farms (private and public) Cultivation of maize is conducted in two different

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

seasons of the year, which are: * Bimodal (Vuli) October to December * Unimodal (Msumi) March to May. About 47% of maize is grown during the Vuli season and 41% is grown during the Msumi season

Harvesting

The

harvesting Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

is conducted three times per year with respect to above cultivation seasons

Constraints

The challenges of maize production in Tanzania includes: *

Drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

* Pests * Infestation by insects *

Fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

Weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s * Poor infrastructure * Storage facilities The common diseases that attack maize in Tanzania are: * Common rust (

Puccinia sorghi ''Puccinia sorghi'', or common rust of maize, is a species of rust fungus that infects corn and species from the plant genus ''Oxalis''. Host and symptoms ''Puccinia sorghi'' often first appears after silking in maize. The first early symptom in ...

) * Leaf bright (

Helminthosporium turcicum ''Setosphaeria turcica'' (anamorph ''Exserohilum turcicum''; formerly known as ''Helminthosporium turcicum'') is the causal agent of northern corn leaf blight in maize. It is a serious fungal disease prevalent in cooler climates and tropical hig ...

) * Lowland rust (Puccinia polysora)

References

{{reflist Agriculture in Tanzania