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CONTROVERSY surrounds effectiveness of growing potatoes in sacks with some farmers expressing disappointment after registering poor yields.
The sack potato farming method, done over a 128-day cycle, was received with excitement last year after some agriculturalists claimed it was possible to produce 15kg of potatoes per plant.
However some farmers who ventured into the project have been disappointed after results were less than satisfactory with a group of women in Chitungwiza producing 20 bags weighing 15kg each from 200 plants.
Planting potatoes in sacks was adopted from Israel and the United State. Farmers who spoke to New Ziana said their plants failed to fully develop, impacting on the output.
Others said the potatoes fail to expand because they were squeezed in sacks and so remained small. Agritex chief horticulture specialist Assah Mudhefi said it was not possible for one plant to produce 15kg as has been touted.
“The yield differs depending on the type of soil and management of the plants,” he said, adding the most that farmers could get was 6kg per plant.
“This method of farming is not suitable for commercial farming at all as we realise that even for small scale farming it is a challenge, so why not continue planting in the ground rather than wasting time and labour. We do not have shortage of land in Zimbabwe,” he said.
However Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) vice president Berean Mukwende said the farming method produced different results depending on management.
“If there are farmers who failed to get good yields it is because they did not go by the book or attend training courses for this method otherwise those who have been trained and have all the resources, their yields are good,” he said.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) vice president Johnson Mapira said the sack potato method was very effective.
“Our consultant in Matabeleland North said after training, farmers have harvested an average of 14kg per plant. It varies because some say they are harvesting 2 to 3kg.”
Agricultural consultant Evans Zininga of Animal Farm Agriculture said the highest he had witnessed was 22kg per plant from 400 plants in Epworth.
“The problem with farmers who are failing is that they are not adding the basal fertilisers required for root development as the plant grows. The stem is not specifically desired for rooting so we will be forcing it to produce roots through adding fertiliser and people are not buying certified seeds hence dismal failures because of short cuts,” he said. — New Ziana.
Online Reporter