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RESEARCHERS USE INFRARED IMAGING FOR MORE EFFICIENT WATER USE
Water is essential for food production, with farming accounting for about 70% of global freshwater use. As countries expand agriculture to feed the population of approximately 9.7bn forecast for 2050, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that irrigated farming will need to increase by more than 50%. Yet climate […]
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HIGH-SPEED POTATO GRADING AND QUALITY INSPECTION USING NEWTEC OPTICAL SORTING MACHINE
The newtec optical sorting machine: The machines are designed to sort potatoes by size, shape and quality in a single-stage process. Photo courtesy of: newtec.com Newtec’s optical sorting machine for potatoes, model Celox-P-UHD, is designed to sort potatoes by size, shape and quality in a single-stage process. The machine […]
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WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SOLANINE
Green potato tubers: The color indicates presence of of a toxic chemical solanine. (Photo courtesy of alamy.com) Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade family within the genus Solanum, such as the potato, the tomato, and the eggplant. The chemical is a natural pesticide and is meant to protect […]
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FARMERS IN OL KALOU GET TRAINED ON POTATO TECHNOLOGIES
Corteva Agriscience representative training farmers on pesticide products use in potato farming today in in Nyeri County, Kieni East. NPCK together with its partners conducted a farmer training in Nyandarua County, Olkalau on 20th August 2020 with the goal of showcasing different technologies in potato production. The partners involved included Agrico East Africa, Corteva Agriscience, […]
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EGERTON UNIVERSITY HOSTS FAMER FIELD DAYS ON CLIMATE SMART SEED POTATO MULTIPLICATION
A section of the participants during the mini-field day. The event seeked to demonstrate seed potato multiplication and ware potato production under climate smart practices to farmers Seed potato production in Kenya is highly centralized and confined to a few specialized individuals and companies, thus making it difficult for farmers to economically access quality seed. […]
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NPCK CONTINUES TO SUPPORT FARMERS ACCESS POTATO MARKETS
Discussions on progress Representatives of Kiambu NARIGP, Kiambu MOALFC, NPCK, Viazi Kings Ltd and Producer Organizations during a meeting in Kiambu County to discuss how to support potato farmers access markets. The potato sub-sector is faced with challenges in potato marketing such as inadequate market information by farmers, unstructured market system, unstandardized potato packaging, inefficient […]
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POTATO STAKEHOLDERS MARK THE NATIONAL POTATO DAY
The event was marked in the country by a team of experts discussing the state of potato farming in Kenya on Standard group media channels The Potato is already an integral part of the global food system. It is the world’s number one non-grain food commodity with the total world potato production being estimated at […]
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WARE POTATO MARKET PRICES IN MAJOR TOWNS IN THE MONTH OF JUNE
NPCK collects and updates the prevailing ware potato market prices in 5 major towns namely Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa, Meru and Eldoret on its website twice a week. This information is useful to potato stakeholders particularly farmers and market outlets in their selling and buying decisions respectively. Below is a summary of the market prices in […]
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CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECT ON POTATO PRODUCTION
Climate change is the long-term or permanent shift either upwards or downwards of average climatic condition for instance temperature, rainfall, wind, humidity. Potato production depends on rainfall and temperature. The variability of these key parameters due climate change will affect conditions necessary to cultivate potato. Extreme weather events such as high rainfall, temperatures and humidity, […]
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CLIMATE RESILIENT AGRICULTURE IN POTATO PRODUCTION
Drip irrigation used on a potato farm. In this method ,water application efficiency is high when managed correctly and fertilizer and nutrient loss is minimized due to a localized application and reduced leaching. Photo courtesy of :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md-BdIlSbzs Climate Resilient Agriculture (CRA) is an integrated approach with three sustainable development dimensions (economic, social and environmental) […]
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