Why potatoes rose in price most of all and the recipe for solving this problem Joint initiative for increasing of potatoes’ yield

FROM THE REDACTION

On July 28 agriculture development project AgVANTAGE, implemented with the support of USAID, together with the Union of Landowners, arranged a “field day” in Dmanisi region’s village of Gantiadi in order to show how profitable it is to use the improved and virusless elite potato seeds.

The “field day” was arranged on a demonstrational 2 hectares’ plot of land, which had been worked for growing “A” class sort of seed potatoes “Impala”.
During the “field day” the members of AgVANTAGE and the Georgian Union of Landowners spoke about the technology of seed potatoes’ production and showed potato plantations being in the medium stage of development to the guests.
Shortage of high-quality seed potatoes and high price of imported seed material made potato producers to use small-sized potatoes that remained from the last yield as seed material, which considerably increases the chances of potatoes’ morbidity and reduces the yield by one second.
Usually “A” class seeds, which is used for growing high-quality potatoes, are produced from “E” class seeds. “E” class seeds are purchased from primary producers. New “E” class seeds should be imported once in three years with the purpose of achieving a high a yield.
In order to show how profitable it is to use high-quality seeds, AgVANTAGE purchased a pilot amount of 6 tons of “E” class “Impala” seeds in the Netherlands and brought it to Georgia. In April the seeds were sown on 2 hectares’ plot of land in Dmanisi region.
As it is expected, the amount of yield of “A” class potato seeds will make up 60 tons, gathering of which will start in September.
Half of the yield will be kept with the purpose of future renewal of the seed material and early production of potatoes. The rest will be purchased by the local producers of potatoes.
According to calculations, the locally produced “A” class seed potatoes will be twice as cheaper than the ones imported from the Netherlands.
The representatives of AgVANTAGE and the Georgian Union of Landowners believe that this initiative will render a considerable assistance to potato producers in raising of the yield and improving of quality and, at the same time, will contribute to the development of seed production in Georgia.
The action was attended by the representatives of USAID, the Ministry of Agriculture, local authorities, Agrarian University, other international organizations and farmers.
The Director of AgVANTAGE project Richard Hurelbrink spoke about the project and stated that the initiative of sowing “A” class “Impala” potato seeds also belonged to Georgians. Its implementation had two reasons: to show how important it is to sow high-quality potato seeds and locally produce high-quality seed potatoes. Mr. Hurelbrink says that their objective is to develop seed farming in Georgia, which will give Georgian farmers an opportunity of growing a high-quality yield.