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Edgar Vhera Agriculture Specialist Writer
THE distribution of the virus free Presidential sweet potato vines has recorded a 600 percent increase from 450 000 in January this year to the current 3 150 000 with more disbursements lined up, as the results of the operationalisation of the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan (HRGP) in 2020 begin to show in most horticulture sub-sectors.
In a recent update on sweet potato production, deputy director for crop production in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Mrs Kundai Makuku said Kutsaga, Low Veld Research Institute (LVRI), Coffee Research Institute (CRI) and Horticulture Research Institute (HRI) had churned out a combined total of 3 310 000 vines since inception of the programmes in 2021.
“The total figure of sweet potato vines distributed to date is 3 150 000. For the 2023/24 season, a total of 150 000 sweet potato seedlings were received from Kutsaga. They were distributed on December 6 to Mashonaland East province for propagation. Currently there are 160 000 sweet potato vines at Kutsaga, which are ready for distribution in Mashonaland West province,” she said.
She said districts with readily available water had been chosen for the propagation of seedlings.
Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) principal horticulture specialist Mrs Hilda Manditsvara said each household received 50 vines for propagation.
“From the distributed 50 vines, we are expecting them to have a multiplier effect within communities to act as a nursery from which other members in the farming communities can get their inputs. With good agricultural practices (GAP) we expect that these plants will have a great impact on sweet potato productivity,” said Mrs Manditsvara.
The distributed vines package also contains some bio-fortified lines, which are rich in vitamins and iron and therefore very nutritious.
“Among the basket of bio-fortified orange fleshed vines that are high in vitamins A are Beauregard, Alish and Belvia varieties. There are also other varieties like German II, Alisha and Chingovha. We are in the process of churning out more vines,” added Mrs Manditsvara.
Mrs Manditsvara said farmers practising rain-fed agriculture have up to end of February to plant the crop while those with irrigation can continue to plant even in winter if there are no frost challenges.
The HRGP has a rural horticulture transformation plan, which is anchored on the Presidential Horticulture Scheme, which seeks to create and sustain a US$1 217 billion rural horticulture economy by 2025 and a US$3, 5 billion economy by 2030.
It focuses on nutrition, income generation and rural agro-industry development, through aggregation, value addition and beneficiation of both indigenous and exotic vegetables and fruits tailored to the various agro-ecological regions.
Among its facets the Presidential Horticulture Rural Development Scheme will ensure that each household get elite, virus free sweet potato seedlings with higher yields and improved quality for food and income.
According to the HRGP, the programme will focus on production and supply of virus-free planting material for sweet potatoes to rural households using agriculture research, colleges and universities. The intention is to double production of sweet potatoes in the short-term to increase food security while reducing the pressure on maize.
The distribution of the sweet potato plants follows Government’s push to move citizens from overreliance on wheat bread and embrace other nutritional options.
The drilling of boreholes under the Presidential Borehole Drilling exercise, which is currently on-going across the country will catapult sweet potato crop cultivation. Drilling of boreholes in each village will make it possible for nutrition community gardens to be established and this will go a long way in allowing farmers to do all-year round sweet potato production.
The country requires about 318 080 tonnes of sweet potatoes annually. Sweet potatoes are generally an easy to farm crop requiring limited inputs, capital intensity and applicable on small tracts of land. Crop yields of up to 30 tonnes per hectare are possible.
Online Reporter