Potato Council of Kenya chief executive Wachira Kaguong[photo/maxnetwork.co.ke/]Potato farmers are losing out on lucrative supply deals to international fast food outlets operating in the country due to the quality of their produce. Only one percent of potatoes grown locally meets the threshold set by the food chains due to poor storage and local seed quality.
This in effect has forced the food chains to import potatoes that meet their desired quality and taste with industry pegging hopes on 53 new varieties set to be released by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service to reverse the situation.
National Potato Council of Kenya (NPCK) further blamed the situation on a number of other aspects including lack of a clear policy on quality control of seed marketed as certified seed and court cases affecting legislation on eradication of extended bags.
However, the Council’s chief executive Wachira Kaguongo said potato farmers in the country were operating without adequate storage making them rush the product to the market. “This way, besides incurring losses by selling at throw-away prices, they handle produce poorly because of insufficient packaging eventually ending up losing huge volumes of potatoes,” he said yesterday.
NPCK says yields per acre have declined from 15 tonnes in 2015 to between four and 10 tonnes currently due to limited use of high-quality seed. In the developed countries, farmers are harvesting more than 40 tonnes of potatoes from the same size of land.
The National Potato Production and Marketing Bill prescribes the use of 50-kilogrammes bags to package the produce. Middlemen, however, stack potatoes in 110-kg bags which the NCPK is trying to eradicate, an effort being challenged in court.