Common Bean Value Chain Actors Share Their Feeling About TL Projects in Tanzania

Ms. Shida Nestory (Fig. 3.1), an experienced agricultural research officer and common been breeder at Selian, presented the projects’ achievements for common bean breeding program in different areas. For accessibility of the new germplasm, new materials can be accessed sufficiently through the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the local collections (landraces), and other national stations (Uyole, Maruku). “Thanks to TL projects we are now able to advance six generations of bean varieties each year. The new breeds that we are developing have traits like better resistance to diseases, a higher nutritional value (iron), early maturity, and ability to survive drought periods. We have 8 old varieties of beans that are aged more than 10 years since the time they were registered; we also have 7 new registered varieties which gained registration in 2018, also underway is an additional 8 lines that are under multi-location trials. Through TL III, we have been able to release a total of 15 varieties up to date. Of the 15 varieties, five are climbing bean types. The 15 varieties have reached farmers across the Tanzanian farming regions. Currently, we can produce about 7 tons of breeder seeds on an annual basis. TL Project can be said to have played a dominant role in our breeding process, 60% of the resources that we own and use have come from the TL Program. The new varieties are very superior in that they have higher yields; they mature much faster and have a higher nutritional value in comparison with the old ones,” Shida ended