The Rwandan Agricultural Council (RAB) has begun testing potato seeds produced by the Dutch hybrid potato company Solynta.
Potato seeds are harvested from berries or potato fruits. or 2.5 tons of perishable potato tubers per 1 ha., farmers will be able to plant only 25 g of seeds on the same plot of land.
If new Irish potato varieties are adopted, the costs incurred by farmers will be reduced and their access to seeds will increase.
Last month, Solynta and RAB intensified collaboration in an attempt to expand farmers' access to hybrid potato seeds. Through collaboration, they seek to supply a combination of true potato seeds and hybrids to local farmers.
The largest potato in the world weighed about 8 kg.
Officials say that real potato seeds are disease resistant, easy to transport and store. Solinta says technology can commercialize new varieties in just two years instead of seven years.
RAB CEO Patrick Karangwa said this is a revolutionary innovation for potato seeds. The head of the potato growing program at RAB, said that during each growing season, potatoes are grown on the territory of 50-60 thousand ha. in Rwanda.
Irish potato production in the country is estimated at 916 thousand tons per year. Irish potato is the third main food crop in Rwanda after cassava and sweet potatoes, depending on the volume of production.
- Early potato prices in Ukraine fell to their lowest level in 3 years.
- In Indian Bengal, a lingering rain destroyed almost the entire potato crop.
- Earlier, we wrote that foreign young potatoes appeared in Ukraine.
- NBU President Minnett Butters said Britain could face an unrealistic shortage of potatoes.
