New sweet potato variety triples yields in Gakenke

A new variety of potatoes introduced in Gakenke District has increased output from four tonnes to 12 tonnes per hectare as farmers in the area appealed to government to avail more land to them. They were speaking to officials from Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) and experts who toured their projects on Thursday. “We have a new variety of sweet potatoes which is more productive despite our small farm sizes,” Theophile Uwamahirwe, the president of Kundumurimo farmers’ association told The New Times in an interview. The new variety dubbed Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes was introduced by Sweet Potato Action for Security and Health in Africa (SASHA), in conjunction with RAB which multiplied 875,800 sweet potato vine cuttings and distributed them among farmers. Another farmer, Jeanne Mukasine, hailed the new variety but similarly called for more land to enable them to maximise on production. Another area farmer, Helene Musabende, echoed similar sentiments. “I have managed to take care of my family thanks to cultivation of more productive sweet potatoes though the methods of cultivation are still poor and land insufficient. We can earn more if we maximise the production of this new variety,” she said.Besides cultivation of the sweet potatoes, SASHA has been training farmers to bake sweet potato doughnuts from their produce as a form of value addition.“I also bake sweet potato doughnuts for sale to my neighbours make more money,” Musabende noted. The farmers say Nyirangarama Urwibusto Enterprises buys the lion’s share of their produce to bake bread and biscuits.“It is a challenge to have one buyer. We sometimes prefer selling our produce to our neighbours instead of Urwibusto Enterprises,” said an area farmer, Mukasine Nyirangarama, adding that the company buys their produce at Rwf 100 per kilogramme unlike residents who buy at Rwf120.Gakenke District Agronomist, Deny Hagenimana, said the current variety of sweet potatoes is very productive despite the fact that it is not categorised as a specialised crop.Hagenimana said that sweet potatoes are cultivated in areas without other selected crops. He assured farmers that the sweet potatoes would be considered as long as they are competitive.“We are recognising the importance and production of those new sweet potatoes. The district and other partners will search for land to cultivate the crop but basing on its significance,” said Hagenimana.The farmers however lamented the scarcity of vine cuttings to plant the new variety. According to Jean Ndirigwe of RAB, Rwanda is the third largest consumer of sweet potatoes in Africa. He added that farmers should be encouraged to make the tuber a food crop as well as a cash crop.Presently, only 15 hectares of land in Gakenke is under sweet potato production with an average output of 12 tonnes per hectare. Apart from Gakenke District, SASHA also supports farmers in Rulindo, Muhanga, and Kamonyi districts. The organisation currently works with over 20 agricultural cooperatives and 37 individual farmers.

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New sweet potato variety triples yields in Gakenke