TARI-Makutupora is located about 23 kilometers northern part of Dodoma City in Dodoma region (Longitude: 35º, 46.093'E and Latitude: 05º, 58.669'S)  with an altitude of 1070 m above sea level and an average annual temperature ranging between 15 °C- 32 °C respectively. The Centre has a total of 40.2 hectares of land, which is used for research and demonstration activities. The area receives an annual rainfall between 400-660mm with poor distribution. The Centre was established in  1978  as a Viticulture Research and Training Centre (VRTC-Makutupora) mandated for the grape research and development Project. The project was working under the Dodoma Integrated Rural Development Project (DODEP) funded by the Kubel Stiftung from Germany. In 1986, the project was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture under the Directorate of Research and Training, where the project was then transformed into the Research Centre known as Viticulture Research and Training Centre (VRTC)-Makutupora. Joining of the Ministry of Agriculture and that of Livestock in the 1995- 2005 period was accompanied by attaching the Centre to the Mpwapwa Livestock Research Centre with the mandate to conduct Research on all crops adaptable to the  Central Zone Climatic Conditions. Apart from crop research, the center was also mandated to develop water harvesting and soil management technologies. In 2006-2017, the  Ministry of Agriculture was formed as a separate ministry from the former ministry in which had both agriculture and livestock. This made the centre to remain in the Ministry of Agriculture under the Directorate of Research and Development as the Agricultural Research Institute, known as ARI Makutupora. In 2018, the DRD was transformed into an autonomous institute called Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) following the Parliament Act number 10 of 2016, and became an independent entity mandated for all research in agriculture. The centre was then transformed from ARI –Makutupora to TARI Makutupora Centre while maintaining its role and mandate for conducting viticulture research along the value chain components at the national level. The centre has one sub-centre, namely TARI-Hombolo, which is located in the Dodoma Region. TARI-Hombolo is mandated to research sorghum, pearl, and finger millets. TARI Makutupora, with its sub Center is well equipped with expert personnel with diverse disciplines from Soil Science, Plant Agronomy, Plant Protection, Post-harvest and Processing, Extension, and Social Economics. The Centre has also invested in improved research infrastructure and breeding materials. Hence, capable of conducting research activities along with the role of technology dissemination to farmers for increased crop production and commercialization towards industrialization.