We continue to publish exclusive materials from the WPC (World Potato Congress), telling about the organization of an efficient seed potato production chain in Africa.
The World Potato Congress will take place from May 31 to June 3 in Dublin, Ireland. The event will bring together professionals, including manufacturers potato, wholesalers, packers, importers and exporters of both seed and food potato.
A critical shortage of quality seeds of productive and adaptive varieties is a major obstacle to efficient potato production in African countries.
Most small farmers do not renew potato seed for several seasons. This results in low yields and poor quality due to seed degeneration.
Many farmers save small tubers from their crops and use them as seed material, which increases the likelihood of infection with viruses, including very dangerous ones that reduce yields (potato leafroll virus (PLRV) and potato virus Y (PVY)).
There are farmers who use as seed potatoes material they purchase from unknown sources, which increases the chances of not only spreading viruses, but also spreading brown rot caused by Ralstonia solancearum.
Aware of this very dangerous trend, government research organizations, commercial farmers, NGOs and the private sector are supporting the production of higher quality seeds through formal, intermediate (also called alternative) and informal seed systems.
An official seed system that follows strict seed production and certification procedures is the most reliable way to produce quality seeds. The most stringent certification for seed potatoes is carried out in Kenya by the Plant Health Inspection Service.
However, seeds from this official source cover less than 5% of the country's needs. They are expensive, farmers can't afford them, and the cost of transporting them around the country is also high.
An alternative or intermediate potato seed system has both formal and informal components, and production is usually geographically closer to farmers. This system basically follows the Quality Declared Seed (QDS) system, but the specific criteria may vary by country.
This type of seed (alternative system) is produced by trained commercial farmers, cooperatives and some advanced small producers. They usually get basic seeds from research centers (official system) and further distribute seeds to get the amount according to QDS rules. The received material is checked by government inspectors, for example, in Ethiopia. But such seeds can be infected with brown rot if the soil on the farm is infected with the bacterium. Unfortunately, this is not so easy for inspectors to detect, because they only conduct a visual inspection.
In order to implement a reliable system for the production of quality seeds to increase the productivity of the two systems discussed above, the availability of clean seed potatoes is a prerequisite. Most countries in Africa, in particular Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, have basic infrastructure in place, including tissue culture laboratories, aeroponics and greenhouses that produce pure minitubers from in vitro plants.
In some of these countries, aeroponic installations are underutilized due to regular power outages and nutrient shortages. In addition, it is clear that there is a possibility of spreading brown rot with early generation seeds, since testing for this pathogen at every stage of seed production is not strictly carried out.
Despite all this, some trends in the production of quality seeds are encouraging, for example, Kisima Farm produces seed potatoes on an area of about 200 hectares per year, this production is officially certified as clean. In Ethiopia, many cooperatives and some commercial farmers also produce acceptable quality QDS.
Kisima Farm is the largest certified seed potato producer in Kenya, supplying about 75% of all certified seed potatoes available in the country. The company produces seed potatoes of farmers' preferred varieties, which are mainly bred by KALRO / CIP, as well as HZPC.
It receives more than 4000 tons of potatoes annually, of which 75% is seed material with a tuber size of 28-45 mm (size 1) and 45-60 mm (size 2). Production begins with in vitro plants purchased from GTIL and Stokmen Rozen, which are aeroponically grown to produce minitubers, which are later adjusted to the right amount in clean soil.
Many small growers have started to grow quality material from certified seed, which they buy from Kisima Farm and sell to other growers. These farmers made a lot of money as potato yields increased by about 60%, resulting in a corresponding increase in income.