MoA educates farmers on potato growing
Pini Bothoko | Friday May 30, 2014 16:03
During the drilling process, agricultural experts from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) revealed that the government was encouraging farmers to cultivate potatoes in large numbers so as to block the importation of potatoes into Botswana.
The demonstration attracted farmers from North East District, Tonota South and West who showed keen interest in learning how to plant potatoes at their fields.
Later on farmers had the opportunity to plant a hectare of Fania G3 potatoes, apply fertilisers and design ridges as a demonstration within the Milgra farms.
Leading the demonstration, agricultural scientific and horticultural officer from North East District (NED) Gagopale Bosekeng said potatoes thrived in a cool climate but can also do well in warm weather provided night temperatures are cool.
He said that the mean optimum temperature for tuber formation of potatoes lies between 15-20 degrees Celsius and above 32 degrees Celsius tuber formation will be poor.
Bosekeng advised farmers to buy and plant only certified or foundation seeds or potato tubers because they have met specific conditions for production practices and diseases tolerances.
“Potatoes need to be planted in a well prepared soil, raised seed beds or ridges with spacing between the rows of 75-80cm, between the rows should be 30cm and sowing depth of 15-20cm and the area must be wet up to 60cm. “Potatoes are heavy feeders and it is important to do soil tests before planting for accurate fertilizer recommendations. The optimum soil PH should be 5.0- 5.5,” he said.
He said that planting a good seed is an essential step to producing quality crops and the more uniform in size and weight the seed the more accurate the planter will perform. Bosekeng advised the farmers to, therefore, ensure that tubers are well sprouted before planting.
He said that in Botswana only a few areas are suitable for potato production with examples being in frost free areas like Chobe and Tuli Block and that usually they are planted from April to mid July with the optimum times being mid April to end of June. “In the southern district potatoes can be planted from end of January-mid February and from end of July to mid August whilst other areas tend to be too cold in winter and too hot in summer for economic production, “ said Bosekeng. Bosekeng said that potatoes are susceptible to pests and diseases especially scab, early and late blight fungal diseases as tuber moth larvae’s usually attack them.
“Make sure the potato tuber is covered underneath in a well raised seed bed with ridges so that the potato moth can have a chance to lay eggs under the ground, “ he said. He said that due to the ever increasing number of new timely diagnosis of potato diseases is becoming paramount to effective disease management and growers need up-to-date information to help make important decisions on optimal use and timing of pesticides and other control options.
Explaining the objectives of the demonstration Tonota Sub-District crop production officer Modiane Badisa said they wanted to see more farmers in areas where potatoes can be planted engaging in potato production in large numbers because a larger quantity of potatoes are imported from neighbouring countries.
Badisa said through them as farmers they can block importation of potatoes into Botswana and would like to see some farmers after the demonstration planting potato tubers for sale.