The Sunday News
Ngonidzashe Chiutsi Agriculture Correspondent
A 21-MEMBER group of sack potato farmers in Sizinda, Bulawayo, was left stunned after harvesting a paltry four packets of potatoes against anticipated yields of 200 packets after planting seed in 500 sacks. The poor yield registered by the farmers put the effectiveness of sack potatoes production under scrutiny.
The association, Hama Mawoko, ventured into the sack potato farming project last year in December, after some agriculturalists claimed it was possible to produce 15 kilogrammes of potatoes per plant.
In an interview, Hama Mawoko vice secretary, Mrs Jestina Matabvu said they were disappointed after they failed to get the much anticipated “bumper harvest”.
“It was disaster and we don’t even know where we went wrong. We did everything that we were told by Agritex officers but we just harvested about four sacks. Instead of getting 25 potatoes that we were told that each sack could produce, ours were producing two or three potatoes while some produced nothing,” said Mrs Matabvu.
She said it was the group’s first time to grow the potatoes and they were looking forward to harvesting over 200 packets of potatoes and hoping to take some for exhibition at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) this year.
“We were hoping to exhibit the potatoes at the ZITF but we almost harvested nothing for us to share let alone to showcase,” said the worried Mrs Matabvu.
One of the Hama Mawoko members, Mrs Emma Sithole, said the total harvest of potatoes they got was not enough to cover the costs incurred.
She said maybe the poor seedlings could have contributed to the poor harvest.
“We are not too sure why we registered the poor result maybe there was too much rainfall. We planted these potatoes in December when there was too much rain,” said the confused Mrs Sithole.
An agritex officer, Mrs Khethiwe Nungu, who was supervising the Sizinda farmers, said farmers could have used wrong soils.
“The soils they used could have contributed to the poor yields because they were just using any soil they find anywhere,” she said.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) co-ordinating consultant Mr Gerald Bhebe said there were several key critical factors that farmers must be aware of when venturing into the sack potato farming business.
“There are no miracles in sack potato farming. Farmers wrongly think that when the sack is full of soil then they should expect the sack to be also full of potatoes. The production of sack potatoes needs proper management,” said Mr Bhebe.
“Farmers should know that there is a possibility of a harvest of between 0-30 kgs per sack. This means that it’s possible for a farmer to harvest nothing if he or she does not grow them properly. There must be proper feeding and application of proper fertilisers such as potash and phosphorous,” said Mr Bhebe.
He said it was also critical for farmers to extensively consult experts to get proper information.
Experts say farmers should consider climate requirements when growing the potatoes so as to get the best from their production.
They say sack potatoes required low temperatures of about 18 degrees to 22 degrees Celsius at early development.
Under the system, the potatoes are planted in 25 to 50 kilogramme bags filled with fertile soil. Once the plant sprouts, more soil is gradually added to the bag until it is full.
Planting potatoes in sacks was adopted from Israel and the United States. However, Mrs Matabvu said they were not going to give up and they intended to try again.
