From Southern Highlands to Central Zone: A Copy-and-Paste Success in Irish Potato Production

FARMERS in Dodoma Region are set to benefit from a new economic opportunity following the first Irish potato trial, which has demonstrated the region’s potential to grow the starchy root vegetable.

The maiden trial of new Irish potato seed was conducted by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) at the farm of former Vice-President Dr Philip Mpango in Mayamaya Village, Bahi District, with the end results proving fruitful.

The farmer’s encouraging trial, which took at least 104 days from seeding to harvesting, has positioned Dodoma farmers on a better footing to fight poverty through the cultivation of the highly demanded economic food crop.

Detailing the trial and its outcomes, Dr Mpango commended TARI for its professional supervision of the programme and urged citizens in the region to stand ready for mass production of the vital cash crop once the trial is finalised.

“Residents and farmers in Dodoma ought to seize this opportunity and venture into the crop’s cultivation, as agricultural experts from TARI are ready to provide us with improved varieties. Apart from improving livelihoods, the development will also enhance food security in the region,” Dr Mpango urged.

The former Deputy Head of State dispelled the longstanding myth that Dodoma is a semi-arid region where most crops fail to thrive, saying what is needed is the knowledge to harness and harvest irrigation water.

“There is no way we can prosper by relying solely on the cultivation of sorghum, maize, grapes, and sunflower. We must venture into the production of other valuable cash crops,” he said.

For his part, the Director General of TARI, Dr Thomas Bwana, applauded Dr Mpango for allowing the institute to conduct the trial on his farm.

“We are also planning to conduct other trials on smallholder farmers’ farms who depend on rainwater,” he disclosed.

The DG noted that TARI is set to continue implementing a series of trials on other crops across many parts of the country to explore and introduce the production of a variety of food and cash crops in different ecological zones.

According to the lead researcher for Irish potatoes from TARI-Uyole Centre, Dr Owekisha Kwigizila, the newly tested variety has the potential to mature in 90 days while maintaining high disease tolerance. The variety, he said, can produce between 35 and 40 tonnes per hectare.

Some of the residents of Mayamaya village who took part in harvesting the healthy Irish potatoes expressed amazement at seeing the crop flourishing in their area.

They eagerly expressed enthusiasm about starting to adopt its cultivation on their farms.

In Tanzania, the production of Irish potatoes has been concentrated in the Southern Highlands regions, although the crop is also grown in several other regions.

The regions include Mbeya, Iringa, Njombe, Songwe, Tanga, Kagera, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, Rukwa and Ruvuma.

According to the 2022/23 Annual Agricultural Sample Survey, Tanzania produced around 530,257 tonnes of Irish potatoes.

Of this, Njombe accounted for 242,630 tonnes (45.8 percent), followed by Mbeya with 127,968 tonnes (24.2 percent) and Iringa with 39,769 tonnes, representing at least 7.5 percent.