Tanzania sets record in potato research, to release improved varieties. |
Three of 14
varieties brought into the country by the International Potato Centre
(CIP) for field trials in Lushoto district did well and two of them will
soon be released toThese are Unica, locally known as Mkanano, and
Shangii which will be released to farmers for cultivation after proving
resilience to climate vagaries.
The third variety,
Mvono, is now with the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute
(Tosci) for national performance trials in the southern highlands
regions.
"Mvono is being
tested for the first time in the world. Its first field trials are
taking place in Tanzania", said Dr Stephano Sebastian, the principal
agricultural research officer with HORTI-Tengeru.
Experimental trials
and promotion of potato is one of the projects implemented within the
East African region under the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) research programme on climate change,
agriculture and food security (CCAFS).
Within the region, the global programme, launched in 2010, encompasses Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.In Tanzania, the focus is to develop more resilient potato varieties with higher yields.
Dr Sebastian said
the project involving 600 families in five villages in Lushoto district,
will ultimately phase out 'Kidinya', a low yielding local potato
variety which is susceptible to blight disease.
"To address these
issues, the CGIAR research programme on climate change, agriculture and
food security initiated a study aimed at developing more resilient
potato varieties that can give higher yields", he said.
Besides the
Peru-based CIP, other partners in the project include the Selian
Agricultural Research Institute (Sari), Lushoto district council, YARA
Tanzania Limited, NGOs and the Lushoto farmers.
Based on demand by
Lushoto farmers, the project also sought to develop potato varieties
with better culinary traits, the expert explained in an interview.
The trials were
carried out at Kwesine, Boheloi, Maringo, Kwekitui and Milungui villages
with experimental materials comprising of six advanced and heat
tolerant clones from CIP.
"The origin of the
project stemmed from addressing the vagaries of weather. One of the
challenges facing the farmers is unpredictability of rains, viral
diseases and knowledge deficiency", says CCAFS project leader, Dawit
Solomon.
Under the
programme, in Rwanda farmers are turning to locally-tailored climate
forecasts to help them make farming and investment decisions, he said.
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