On Tuesdays, we continue to publish exclusive materials from the WPC (World Potato Congress), telling about the organization of an efficient seed potato production chain in different countries of the world. We have already talked about the countries of Africa and China. Now let's turn to the Philippines.
The World Potato Congress will take place from May 31 to June 3 in Dublin, Ireland. The event will bring together professionals including potato growers, wholesalers, packers, importers and exporters of both seed and ware potatoes.
This week we'll be talking about the Philippine Farmers' Association and creating healthy potato seed.
This information is provided by Dr. Victoria Demonteverde of the Potato Systems Research and Training Center and Dr. Peter Vander Zaag of the Sunrise Potato Systems Institute.
The PPVFA (Philippine Farmers' Association) is made up primarily of subsistence farmers who tend to be very poor with very small holdings of land, less than 1 hectare per family. In the past, intermediaries provided crops at very high interest rates and bought crops at the lowest prices in order to repay their loans and thus make huge profits.
The newly established PPVFA promotes the sustainable production and marketing of potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables and other crops. He also advocates for advanced agricultural practices and the use of technology to achieve the aforementioned goals. This farmers association was organized in 2016 and officially registered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on June 19, 2017.
In 2014 and 2015, CPF began working with farmers to evaluate different varieties of potatoes from the Northern Philippine Root Research and Education Center, Benke State University, and other countries. Seedlings from real potato seeds were also evaluated by farmers. PSRTC (Germplasm Center) was established in 2016 and has implemented thematic programs which include introduction, selection and evaluation of germplasm, advanced technology research and farmer education. A study was conducted on the status of local potato production and farmers from potato growing areas were invited to the “Research Results Presentation and Planning Dialogue with Farmers” on August 29, 2016 at PSRTC.
Cooperation and institutional support for the new Farmers Association
During this dialogue, farmers realized the need to preserve the declining local potato industry and realized the need to create an organization to advance potato production. After that, several trainings on growing potatoes were held.
By December 2016, the farmers held an organizational meeting and ratified the Charter to formally organize the association. By January, the organization applied for accreditation with DOLE and its application was officially approved on June 19, 2017. Membership has increased markedly and more interested farmers join the organization almost every week.
High-quality and healthy potato planting material
PSRTC maintains a tissue culture laboratory to be able to produce and propagate materials tested for pathogens. PSRTC also cleaned local clones obtained from farmers' fields and propagated planting material. The planting material was further propagated by CPF for farmers by rapid multiplication methods using tip cuttings. Another farmer from Kabagtasan, Kodkod, propagates clones in his greenhouse to produce G0 and G1 tubers for other farmers.