Dar es Salaam, 31st August 2023
In a momentous move, Patrick Ngwediagi, Director General of the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI), inaugurated SeedCast—a groundbreaking mobile app poised to redefine Tanzania’s rice seed sector.
At the esteemed Rice Breeding Innovations Partners’ Annual Gathering in Dar es Salaam, Ngwediagi underlined TOSCI’s steadfast resolve to advance agri-innovation, with a spotlight on elevating seed quality and accessibility.
This influential meeting convened over 100 rice connoisseurs from 11 nations, accentuating the significance of agricultural modernization on a global spectrum.
The avant-garde SeedCast app promises to revolutionize the dissemination of rice seed supply-demand intel. Crafted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in synergy with Tanzania’s public and private sectors, SeedCast stands as a beacon of transformative agritech.
With its intuitive interface, SeedCast seeks to recalibrate rice production dynamics in Tanzania—an eminent contributor to rice cultivation in the East and Southern Africa (ESA) zone—by bridging the information chasm between seed supply and demand.
Ngwediagi expressed profound gratitude to collaborators in his address, highlighting SeedCast’s role in knitting a network between farmers, seed vendors, and regulatory bodies. “SeedCast is emblematic of TOSCI’s aspiration to spearhead agri-evolution. This digital nexus engenders collaboration at an unparalleled scale,” he stated.
Assuring compliance with prevalent norms and vernacular, Ngwediagi reiterated the rigorous vetting SeedCast would undergo to align with local and global benchmarks.
Dr. Dennis Tippe, the helm of Uyole Agricultural Research Institute in Mbeya, hailed SeedCast as a transformative tool. Reflecting on its localized utility, he expressed confidence in SeedCast’s potential to guide grassroots agricultural leaders on seed availability.
Highlighting data-centric decision-making as SeedCast’s forte, Dr. Tippe illuminated its capacity to empower district councils with invaluable seed data, optimizing resource allocation and strategy.
He also revealed that while SeedCast’s current version caters to smartphone users, the roadmap includes SMS integrations to democratize information access.
Dr. Ajay Panchbhai, a leading figure at IRRI, pinpointed the vital role of quality seed education in bridging Africa’s food import gap, emphasizing the profound impact SeedCast could make in this journey.
Martin Ndomondo, an expert at IRRI, exuded confidence in the digital pivot, citing its power to connect farmers to seed vendors seamlessly. Elaborating on SeedCast’s operational framework, he outlined the mechanism of data flow from grassroots to national platforms, facilitating holistic agricultural assessments.
With the world’s relentless march towards digitization, Ndomondo emphasized SeedCast’s roadmap to expand compatibility across a spectrum of devices.
Concluding the three-day summit in Dar es Salaam, it was evident that as a rice production behemoth, Tanzania’s role transcends its national boundaries, influencing rice landscapes across the ESA region.
End.