1. Strategies to improve seed potato quality and supply in sub-Saharan Africa: Experience from interventions in five countries Demo, P.1 , Lemaga, B.1, Kakuhenzire, R.1, Schulz, S.1, Borus, D.1 , Barker, I.2, Giorgis, Gebremedin3, and Schulte-Geldermann, E.1 1: International Potato Center (CIP); 2: Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Schwarzwaldalle, Basel, Switzerland 3: Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. 9th Triennial Conference of the African Potato Association, The Great Rift Valley Lodge Naivasha, Kenya, 30 June 4 July 2013

2. Outline of the Presentation 1. Importance of potato in Sub-Saharan Africa 2. The problem 3. Objectives of the interventions 4. Strategies used to tackle the problem 5. Results and discussion 6. Lessons learned 7. Conclusions and recommendations 8. Acknowledgement 3. 1. Importance of potato in Sub-Saharan Africa Potato is: Grown for food and income Main cash crop in growing areas Faster maturing than maize (provides food during hunger months e.g. in Malawi and Ethiopia) Nutritious food 4. 2. The Problem Lack and shortage of quality seed potato leading to low crop yields and poor quality produce Formal seed systems Certified labeled seed provides less than 5% of seed planted Informal seed systems-Supplies over 95% of seed Non-certified quality planting material Positively selected planting material Use of degenerated small tubers from ware crops as planting material 5. 3. Objectives of interventions 1. To increase the availability of quality seed potato to resource poor farmers at affordable prices 2. To improve farmers potato crop yields, food availability, incomes and livelihoods 6. 4. Strategies used to tackle the problem G1: Massive increase of Minitubers Pre-Basic seed with Aeroponics & Sand hydroponics G2 & G3: Field multiplication of minitubers by specialized seed farms Highly specialized resource rich private and public companies/farms/institutes Further decentralized seed multiplication by secondary trained seed multipliers Farmers with a minimum of 2 ha to ensure proper rotation Improved farmers knowledge and skills through hands-on training in Positive Selection methodology, other seed quality maintenance technologies, management practices, demonstration trials, field days, and small seed bags ( 5 & 10kg) Small scale resource poor farmers 7. 5. Results and Discussion Capacity strengthening and Rapid seed multiplication under lab and screen house conditions using Aeroponics and other techniques Field multiplication Seed storage Quality Declared Seed Cost of seed production Positive selection and benefits 8. Innovative Aeroponics system for seed potato multiplication at DARS-Bvumbwe and at Universal Industries Ltd-Njuli, Malawi Tissue culture Screen house 9. Seed potato production and harvest in aeroponics, Malawi, 28 September 2012 10. Production of Field generation 1 and 2 seed potato tubers in Malawi, 2012/2013 11. Impact of 3G Project on mini-tuber production 0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 private public Project start 0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Aeroponics Conventional pots Improved conv. 12. Value of Mini-tuber produced in 3G project in Kenya No. of Minitubers produced: 1,490,000 Market price $ 0.25/ Minituber Production cost $ 0.12/ Minituber Gross Value $372,500 Profit generated: $193,700 Regional trade : About 300.000 minitubers (from Kenya) sold to non project countries: Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania 13. Impact of 3G Project seed produced 3 G seed planted 2540 ha (based on total MT prod., 15t/ha FG 1 & 25t/ha FG2) Average yield 8 tons/ha Factor yield increase 2.66 Market price $200/ton Seed costs $500/ton Increase in potatoes for consumption: 33,728 tons Gross market value increase: $ 6,745,636 Additional ware growers profit (reduced by seed costs): $ 2,539,772 14. Combined effects of various fertilizer levels and quality seed on profit of potato production 15. Cost of seed potato production using aeroponics system in Malawi Seed Generation Unit cost per tuber (USD) Unit seed cost per Kg (USD) Aeroponics tuber 0.30 - Field Generation 1* 0.10 2.13 Field Generation 2* 0.050 1.06 Field Generation 3** 0.0122 0.26 Farmers informal seed 0.04 0.80 *: Cost includes field inspections, travels cost for crop maintenance, and transportation of seed from field to store (154 km away from farm). **: cost of field inspection and travels not included in calculations. Plot size harvested: 0.67 ha 16. 17 23 31 14 22 27 13 18 21 7 9 12 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 45 90 0 45 90 0 45 90 0 45 90 2-CF 3-CF 5-informal FPProject seed CFseed Informalseed multipliers Farmersseed Seedquality/kgN:P:K*ha1 t*ha1 Yield of different seed qualities at 3 fertilizer levels in Kenya 17. FAO Quality Declared Seed (QDS) standards for clonal crops QDS protocols for clonal crops was published Scheme involves self-certification or certification through communities etc. Challenging yet achievable standards Compatible with national seed regulations Registered varieties Registered producers Practice of QDS: case of Ethiopia 18. Farm based improvement of quality of planting material- positive selection Select the Best 19. Effects of Positive Selection on potato tuber yield, reduction in % plants with bacterial wilt and virus symptoms in Malawi Districts (year) Number of demonstration plots in farmers fields % tuber yield increase % reduction in number of wilted plants due to bacterial wilt disease % reduction in number of plants with virus diseases symptoms Dedza (2010) 12 34 68 33 Mchinji (2010) 21 17 49 55 Ntcheu (2010) 14 61 54 53 Ntchisi (2010) 12 67 69 55 Ntchisi (2011) 9 71 58 41 Ntcheu (2012) 42 65 60 51 Total 110 315 358 288 Mean SE 18 5 53 9 60 3 48 4 SE= Standard error 20. Marginal net benefit of positive selection per hectare and per average household per season in Kenya (Source: Gildemacher, 2012) Yield increase through positive selection (t/ha) 3.47 Marginal gross benefit (USD) a b 367.61 Additional cost (USD) c 7.78 Net benefit (USD/ha) 359.83 Estimated benefit per adopting household (USD) d 156.53 aEstimated minimum farm gate price (900 Ksh / 110 kg bag) b1US$=77.12 Ksh at www.oanda.com, 01/09/2010) cCasual labour = 150 Ksh / day; total 4 days / ha dAvg. potato field Nyandarua 0.43 ha (Wachira et al. 2008) 21. 6. Lessons learned 1. Aeroponics and other rapid multiplication techniques can be used to break seed potato bottleneck by reducing the number of field multiplication needed to get quality seed to farmers 2. An efficient private sector can successfully invest in quality seed potato production in SSA 3. Clean seed is a profitable investment to farmers 4. With proper technical advice and backstopping, farmers are able to produce clean seed in SSA 5. Transport of bulky seed potato is a challenge, justifying the importance of decentralized seed multiplication system 6. Use of best seed production practices to achieve highest possible plant survival and highest number of tubers produced per plant is a key strategy to lower cost of seed under aeroponics and field production 22. 7. Conclusions and Recommendations 1. Seed quality plays a pivotal role in improving potato yields in SSA. To overcome the supply crisis of high quality seed serious investment has to be done in seed sector. 2. Formal regulated seed certification schemes for all planting material are unlikely to be effective or practicable in SSA smallholder potato production. 3. Certification of foundation and basic seed and implementation of community based quality schemes (and encouragement of small private seed multipliers) is feasible and would improve access to clean planting material. 4. Seed regulations could be amended to recognize the importance of traded quality planting material derived from certified seed. 23. 8. Acknowledgements To: The donors USAID IRISH AID CFC Scottish Government GIZ The Governments of Ethiopia Malawi Kenya Uganda Rwanda Potato projects implementing partners in the above countries And The APA Organizing Committee 24. Thank You