Lovemore Kadzura
Rusape Correspondent
PRODUCTION of potatoes has gone up by a massive 800 percent in the last decade following Government’s interventions which include the banning of table potatoes’ imports, a senior Government official has said.
Speaking on the sidelines of a field day at Manda Farm in Rusape last week Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement Permanent Secretary, Dr John Bhasera said local production of seed potato is vital in food security.
“We cannot talk about food security without talking of seed security. This has some elements of import substitution which is a critical indicator of the performance of the economy. The moment we import a container of seed potato we are exporting jobs to other countries; we can’t afford to do that. We are localising seed production so that we substitute imports.
“In 2010, we produced 52 000 metric tonnes, 2018 (475 000mt) and 2019 (500 000mt).
That is 800 percent growth in terms of production. We took deliberate decisions on imports of table potatoes to promote local production.
“Local potato production is now on a growth trend, which is good for our economy. Production and productivity are important to the performance of the overall economy.
“There are also changes in eating habits and that diversity in consumption will lead to crop diversity, ultimately relieving pressure on maize as the staple crop,” said Dr Bhasera.
Kukura Seed House director, Mr Graeme Murdoch said the over reliance on South African seeds was derailing local production as some of the seeds were of poor quality, while farmers were struggling to raise foreign currency.
“To be wholly reliant on seed imports from South Africa puts local farmers at the mercy of the South African seed industry. In a year like this where there is a shortage of seed in South Africa, we are struggling to find adequate seed to plant commercially.