Kenyan potato stakeholders vow to improve yields
Speaking at a national conference in Nairobi on Friday, the stakeholders vowed to increase annual potato output by addressing the quality of seeds and relaying the right information to farmers in the value chain.
In his opening remarks, Eliud Kireger, Director General of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) said that in collaboration with private seed companies, the country is now capable of producing 300 tonnes of basic seed potato annually.
“Despite the successes recorded, much still needs to be done, particularly in the area of technology transfer (scaling-up and scaling-out) and the development of meaningful partnerships in research at national, regional and global levels,” Kireger told participants.
According to the National Potato Council, the East African nation loses 190 million USD annually due to poor production and processing of potatoes. Further data also shows that Kenya’s potato value chain involves about 2.7 million people among them 800,000 smallholder farmers. The sub sector contributes more than 500 million dollars to Kenya’s economy.
source: newsghana.com.gh
