Trends in landbouw en voedsel

Potato farmers in Kabale District, Uganda are elated following the commissioning of Muhingi Products Factory which is hoped to create added value addition for both sweet potato and Irish potato produce.

Imagine being a potato farmer in Ethiopia, Kenya, or Nigeria. On a small piece of land, which you depend on for food and income, you have spent months planting, weeding, and watering.

In Uganda, a series of field trials began in 2015 to assess whether twelve highly resistant GM plants of the ‘Desiree’ and local ‘Victoria’ variety provided by the International Potato Center CIP offer a durable resistance to late blight

Scientists in Uganda will soon start confined trials of genetically modified strains of Irish potato designed to be resistant to Phytophthora infestans, the fungus that causes potato blight, now devastating the crop in the west of the country.

Potatoes are not widely grown in Uganda but they could earn a farmer big if the right farming methods and good prices are in place. Nathan Baryahisahe, the chairman of the Muko Expanded Irish Potato Producers Association says they now have 161 members...