THE Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) has embarked on a robust project to advance and adopt modern technologies for the improvement of wine production sector in the country.

The timely technological advancement which focuses to enable home produced wine to penetrate and compete highly in the world market has already saw importation of modern equipment to be installed at the Makutupora Centre’s laboratory.

According to Felista Mpore, the research officer at the department of Crop Innovation and Post-Harvest Management at TARI Makutupora Centre, the digital equipment had already arrived in the country from France, Italy and South Africa.

"Among others, the prime target is to ensure for professional additional value chain for grape products, but also, to scale-up conduction of diverse wine research and trainings," she informed.

She named the 200million/- worth facilitate as wine tank with capacity to absorb up to 10,000 litters, basket press, a crusher machine, a digital abulliometer for measuring wine quality, screw capping machine and wine pump.

Others are digital PH meter, digital fractometer and a special wine cooling unit.

“The envisaged lab is projected to play meaningful role in monitoring production of quality wine,” she expressed, added: "The expectations is also to use the equipped laboratory to train the farmers and wine processors over professional stages in bottling best wines.”

Giving additional information concerning the on- going strategies, the director for TARI Makutupora Centrer, Dr Cornel Masawe expressed that the centre is also planning to install a modern walk -in solar drier to facilitate professional production of raisin (drying of grapes).

"Apart from generating wine varieties, we're determining to expand the use of grapes by producing other products, including raisins, jam as well as grape juice," he unveiled.

On the same vein, he added that the development will see grape farmers within the semi- arid region effectively trained on how best to produce grape bulk juice, but also, all vital processes involved in wine making, from fermentation, packaging as well as professional preservation of wine.

“The introduction of the new technologies at the centre will help to empower the grape farmers to produce grape fruits with needed sugar content and thus, fetching good prices for their produce," he added.

Dr Masawe said grape wine required to possess from 20 to 26 brixes of sugar content in order to produce best wine and with high alcohol of around 14percent.

Moreover, he detailed that the centre has well prepared to implement a chain of viable initiatives in order to fruitful put into practices the directives by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa revealed and improvement of grape cultivation and wine processing within the country.

However, in line to implement the prime Minister's directs, the Director of crop development, Nyasebwa Chimagu told the publication that at least 300,000 grape farmers have already been registered, and the exercise was continue to reach out to more farmers from across the region.

“Though being the hub of grape cultivation within the country, farmers in Dodoma is yet to fully use the endowed opportunity for the production of the economic crop due to several challenges,” he expressed.

Apart from that, Nyasebwa explained that plans by the parent ministry was to ensure the farmers are entering into profitable contract farming with wine making industries in order to realize good profits.

Scientific research has so far proved that grapes grown in Tanzania (Dodoma) are more wine- worthy, in terms of good taste and aroma, than all other parts of the world where the crop is grown.

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