Shortage of potato seeds springs up opportunities

Abstract

The use of farm-saved seeds, which is the common practice throughout the country, comes with many challenges. Sugut is one of the more than 200 farmers who have been trained by CIP while working with the county governments in the North Rift and Meru counties to multiply disease-free potato planting materials for local distribution. Farmers get a chance to multiply clean potato planting materials that they can sell to others for at least Sh2,500 for a 50kg bag. In the North Rift, farmers multiplying the seeds have focused on Shangi, Unica, which is a new high-yielding and drought-tolerant variety from Peru, and the Dutch Robjin, which is for processing.