Farmers in Kenya Happy with Positive Selection

Potato farmers in Kenya, as well as potato thieves, are reaping the rewards of positive selection, a technology that is simple to adopt and requires only sticks and labor. Farmers increased their potato production by 30 percent simply by using tubers from selected healthy-looking plants as seed. The International Potato Center (CIP), the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and the Ministry of Agriculture of Kenya have trained extension agents and farmer trainers in positive selection, who in turn trained over 70 farmer groups involving more than 1000 farmers since 2004.

Farmer groups are being trained on distinguishing between sick and healthy plants. Healthy looking plants are pegged before flowering and monitored up to harvesting. Pegged plants are harvested one by one and a final seed potato selection is made based on the number, size and quality of the tubers. By repeating this process over a few seasons, potato yields can be gradually increased. The success of positive selection is seen from unlikely indicators – potato thieves. “My last crop looked so good that thieves came during the night to harvest it,” said Peter Kinyae from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Tigoni. “Interestingly we have seen several cases of theft from fields where groups had planted positive selected seed. This is a good indicator that the technology works.”

The press release is available at http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=38.