Sh5m project to boost potato yields launched
A project to introduce low-cost potato seed storage system in regions where the crop is grown has been launched.
The ‘On-farm evaluation and promotion of low-cost seed potato storage technologies’ is funded by the National Council of Science and Technology at a cost of Sh5 million.
The National Potato Council of Kenya, Mount Kenya University and Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (Kari) will conduct the seed storage promotion.
Prof John Nderitu, a researcher at Mount Kenya University, noted that with a better and less expensive storage system, Kenya was capable of producing quality tubers.
Speaking during a seed project planning workshop, Prof Nderitu said potato was an important food security crop in the country and must be protected.
The storage technology entails maintaining the seeds in good physical and physiological condition from when they are harvested until planting time.
Prof Nderitu said the project would incorporate all potato stakeholders, adding that a pilot research project had been started in Nyandarua.
“Kenya has the capacity to produce certified seed tubers if farmers were facilitated to have low-cost potato storage technologies to ensure that the seed they plant are of good quality,” he said.
