The Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) and the Colombian Potato Growers Federation (FEDEPAPA) created a common front to address the phytosanitary consequences of climate change that phenomenon such as El Niño would cause in the main producing areas.
ICA reported that, after the strategic alliance between the health authority and the union, they came up with a series of recommendations that potato producers in the country should follow in order to have successful harvests and not be affected by pests such as the Guatemalan moth and the yellow leaf virus, transmitted by whiteflies.
"The main recommendations relate to the times of planting, harvesting and post-harvest crop, and how to prevent the yellow leaf virus, which is showing up in some regions," said Luis Humberto Martinez Lacouture, General Manager of ICA.
Martinez Lacouture asked potato producers to make use of healthy and certified seeds, to constantly monitor their crops and to make weed control.
Meanwhile, the CEO of FEDEPAPA, José Manuel García, said that the ICA and FEDEPAPA "would launch a disclosure program that would allow producers to have all the information tools necessary to mitigate the phytosanitary problems."
The program will focus on the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Nariño, Antioquia and Santander, as the first three are the largest producers of the tuber, with 80% of the country's potato crop area and domestic production.
Currently, the department of Cundinamarca has 48,320 hectares of potato and a production of 1,064,400 tons, while Boyacá has 27% of the planted area, equivalent to 34,880 hectares and a production of 764,500 tons.
Source: Fresh Fruit Portal