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| Rwanda set to release first new potato varieties in almost three decades |
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The potato is one of Rwanda’s most important crops, yet Rwandan farmers struggle to produce decent harvests, primarily because they grow low-yielding and disease-susceptible potato varieties. That will soon begin to change, as Rwandan authorities are preparing to release five new varieties with higher yield potential and greater resistance to late blight disease. |
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CIP News, March 18, 2019
Figure: Farmer Nyiransabimana Claudine participated in the evaluation of the new potato varieties.
The potato is one of Rwanda’s most important crops, yet Rwandan farmers struggle to produce decent harvests, primarily because they grow low-yielding and disease-susceptible potato varieties. That will soon begin to change, as Rwandan authorities are preparing to release five new varieties with higher yield potential and greater resistance to late blight disease.
The new varieties will be the first released in Rwanda in almost 30 years. They are the product of a partnership between the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), with collaboration from farmers, universities, cooperatives and food-processing companies. Together they evaluated 21 CIP-bred potatoes over the course of two years and recommended five for release as varieties. The initiative was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Private Sector Driven Agricultural Growth project.
According to Placide Rukundo, research coordinator of the RAB potato sub-program, the 21 potato clones that CIP shared with RAB were grown for several seasons at 10 sites scattered across Rwanda, to test their disease resistance and adaptation to the country’s varied climates and soils. Farmers evaluated their agronomic, cooking and table qualities while processing companies tested their suitability for potato chip and crisp production. The best of them yielded between 30 and 40 tons per hectare, compared to Rwanda’s average yields of 10-15 tons per hectare.
In January, the top five tubers were unveiled at a variety-naming event at RAB’s Musanze Research Station, in northern Rwanda. The event brought together researchers, local leaders and farmers, who tasted the candidate varieties, boiled and as chips, and gave them names. The names of the new spuds are: Ndeze, Kaze Neza, Izihirwe, Nkunganire and Twihaze.
See more: https://cipotato.org/blog/rwanda-release-new-potato-varieties/ |
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