ABOUT US
The Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) Tumbi Centre is in Tabora Municipality, Tabora Region, in the Western part of Tanzania. This Centre is one of the 16 Research Centres and sub centres under TARI. The centre is located 16 Km from Tabora town centre along the Tabora-Kigoma road highway via Urambo. It is on the central plateau between latitude 4°-7° South and longitude 31º - 34º East at and altitude of 1190 meters above sea level. TARI Tumbi Centre has a total land area of 1,634 ha, out of which 70% is under the Miombo Woodland natural forest and has potential for research and other related activities. However, currently only about 40ha is under use for research and development.
Background
Tumbi centre evolved in ownership and mandate through the following phases:
· Early 1930s: It started as a private veterinary centre
· 1938 -1954: Was under a Dairy Company and served as a milk buying centre.
· 1954-1977: Was a tobacco research, training and buying centre under British American Tobacco (BAT), later (from 1973) under the Tobacco Authority of Tanzania (TAT).
· 1977 -2016: Was an agricultural research institute (ARI) for the Western Zone first under the Ministry of Agriculture, then from 1982 -1989 under the defunct Tanzania Agricultural Research Organization (TARO) and again from 1989 -2016 under the Ministry of Agriculture.
· 2016 todate: Is a research centre under the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI). The later is a government semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Agriculture; responsible for coordinating, regulating and conducting agricultural research in Tanzania Mainland.
Geography
Ecology: Tumbi centre falls in the Miombo ecological system in the upland plateau.
Soils: Major soil types of the centre and the surrounding areas of Tabora region range from sandy to sandy loams, whereas in Kigoma Region soils range from clay loam to heavy clay.
Rains: Rainfall is monomodal and falls between November and April, with an annual average of 700 -800 mm in Tabora Region and 800 -1000 mm in Kigoma Region.
Temperatures: Are generally warm with a short cool season from June to August and range from 22 to 310C.
Economic Activities
The main economic activity in the areas immediately served by TARI Tumbi centre i.e. Tabora and Kigoma regions is agriculture, covering both crops and livestock. This is mainly undertaken by smallholder farmers. Major food crops in Tabora Region include maize, sorghum, rice, cassava and sweet potatoes while cash crops include tobacco, groundnuts, cotton, sunflower and horticultural crops (vegetables, tomatoes and mangoes). In Kigoma Region main food crops include maize, beans, rice, cassava, bananas and sweet potatoes and major cash crops are coffee, palm oil and horticultural crops (e.g. vegetables, tomatoes, mangoes and pineapples).
Livestock keeping is also an important economic activity in the zone and animals kept include cattle, goats, sheep and poultry. Other important economic activities are bee keeping for honey in both regions and fishery in Kigoma.