Potato farmers turn to modern tech to beat quality seed shortage

Potato farmers from Nakuru and Narok counties during a farmers' field day at Agrico East Africa potato farm in Kabarak. [File, Standard]

Farmers in potato-growing areas are turning to a new technology that could help solve one of their biggest challenges — the shortage of affordable, clean and certified seed.

For years, many potato farmers have relied on recycled or locally produced seed, a practice that often results in declining yields and increases the risk of pests and diseases.

Irish potatoes are the second most consumed food crop in Kenya after maize and are an important source of food and income for thousands of farming households. However, the sector continues to face challenges, with limited access to certified seed among the biggest.

But farmers trained by FIPS Africa are now multiplying clean planting material using potato rooted apical cuttings.

In Kuresoi South, Nakuru County, Joyce Sang is among the farmers who have embraced the technology and are already seeing a difference in their harvests.

Sang said accessing certified potato seed had been a major challenge, forcing her and many other farmers to rely on seed saved from previous harvests.

For more than a decade, she farmed potatoes using locally available seed but struggled to achieve good yields.

“I have seen great improvement. I used to plant a big farm and harvest less, but now I plant a smaller farm and harvest much more,” she said.

Before adopting the new technology, Sang said she would harvest about 20 bags of potatoes. She can now harvest up to 100 bags of 50 kilogrammes in a season.

The improved production has also opened another opportunity for her. Sang is now a trained seed multiplier and sells planting material to farmers in her area.

She said the new seed has given farmers greater confidence because it is cleaner and less prone to pests and diseases when properly managed.

The rooted apical cuttings technology involves taking young shoots from disease-free mother plants and encouraging them to develop roots before they are transplanted into nurseries. The plants eventually produce mini-tubers, which can then be multiplied to provide clean planting material.

According to Sang, farmers are trained on the different stages of the process, beginning with the production of mother plants in greenhouses.

Certified seed is first used to produce healthy mother plants. Shoots are then taken from the plants and multiplied as rooted cuttings. The cuttings are later transferred to nurseries where they develop into plants that produce mini-tubers.

Sang said the training has also equipped her with knowledge that she shares with other farmers, including how to manage pests and diseases and maintain healthy planting material.

In Meru, seed multiplier Paul Munene is also using the technology. He is a beneficiary of a FIPS Africa greenhouse project where potato planting material is propagated.

Munene said the facility is producing about 3,000 apical cuttings a day, demonstrating the potential of the technology to increase the supply of clean planting material.

He believes the shortage of certified seed can be reduced if more farmers are trained and supported to become seed multipliers.

However, experts say solving the seed shortage alone will not be enough to transform the potato sector.

Farmers also need training on managing emerging pests and diseases, proper crop husbandry and post-harvest handling to minimise losses.

Another challenge is the continued recycling of seed beyond the recommended period. Experts warn that repeatedly planting the same seed can lead to disease build-up and declining yields.

Farmers and seed multipliers have also faced restrictions in multiplying some potato varieties whose rights are held by breeders or seed companies. Experts are calling for policy changes and partnerships that would create more opportunities for local seed multiplication while protecting the rights of breeders.

FIPS Africa programme coordinator James Ngugi said farmers are often forced to travel long distances to buy certified seed, while the cost can also be beyond the reach of many small-scale producers.

“The biggest challenge farmers are facing is access to certified seeds in terms of cost and distance travelled to get the seeds,” he said.

Ngugi said FIPS Africa is working to decentralise seed multiplication by training selected farmers in villages to produce planting material and train others.

The approach, he said, allows farmers to access quality planting material closer to their homes while also creating business opportunities for those trained as seed multipliers.

“One good thing about the technology is that farmers are able to access different varieties of seed within a short period of time,” Ngugi said.

He said increasing access to quality planting material would significantly improve potato production and contribute to food security.

Nakuru acting County Director of Agriculture Lynnette Echesa, said potatoes remain an important crop in the county and provide a livelihood for many farmers.

She said farmers continue to face challenges including pests and diseases, inadequate access to certified seed and fluctuating market prices.

Echesa said the county government has been working with different partners to find solutions to the challenges facing potato farmers.

“We have been working with, among other partners, FIPS Africa, which has been working with our farmers in supporting a technology known as potato rooted apical cuttings,” she said.

Through the technology, she said, farmers can produce planting material that is largely disease-free when the recommended practices are followed.

She encouraged more farmers to embrace the technology, saying increased access to clean planting material would help improve yields and strengthen potato production.