International potato diseases detection workshop; Harbin, China; July 2012

What: 2012 International training workshop on potato diseases detection techniques.

About: Sharing China's know-how/techniques of the detection of the diseases of seed potatoes.

Where: Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China.


Organizer: Ministry of Agriculture of China (Harbin); Supervision & Testing Center for Virus-free Seed Potatoes.

Working Language: English


Expenses: Accepted participants are to fund their own travel to and from their countries to the airport or railway station of Harbin. Accommodations, group traveling and insurance in Harbin will be taken care of by the Chinese government.

When: July 5- July 24, 2012.

Closing date for applications: June 1, 2012.

Contact and Application Details:  
 
Contacts: Liu Weiting (Angela)

Mobile: 86-138 4512 9354

Tel: 86-451-86677452

Fax: 86-451-86677452

E-mail: potatotraining@yahoo.com

Seed potato technology course, The Netherlands, June 2012

Course: Seed potato technology, certification and supply systems




About: 1) to improve the participants’knowledge of the technical, organisational, institutional and socio- economic aspects of seed potato supply systems

             2) to increase participants’ expertise concerning all major aspects of seed potato production...



Where: Wageningen, The Netherlands,




When: 4 – 30 June 2012




Deadlines: 1) for admission application directly to Wageningen with other funding: is 4 May 2012.

                    2) Fellowship application deadline: October 01 2011



Website: Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation

Kenyan farmers to get drought-tolerant potato seeds

by Wanjohi Gakio

Plans are underway to start breeding drought resistant potato varieties in Kenya to curb food shortage. Players in potato farming who were meeting at Oljoro Orok Farmers Training Centre observed that available potato varieties are only grown in the highlands. They said there is no central place where potato information can be processed and disseminated to farmers to enable them know which seeds can be planted on which soils, in which quantities and where.

Potato Council of Kenya CEO Wachira Kaguongo said the country is producing 1.1 million tonnes of potatoes on 158, 000 hectares of land, which he said is not enough to feed the growing population.

Wachira said lack of vital information is the major cause of the low yields since farmers do not get varieties which can do best in their areas and which can be stored for a long time to cushion them against poor selling prices. "As a result, only one per cent use certified seeds of potatoes while another three per cent plant positively selected seeds. The rest plant the very same potatoes they harvest," he observed.

Wachira was speaking during the launch of a low cost potato storage project which is expected to be rolled out to more than 800,000 potato farmers countrywide.

The project was initiated by stakeholders in the potato industry after a chemical used to boost uniform seed germination, "Rindite," was withdrawn from the market over environmental concerns.

A researcher with Mount Kenya University Professor, John Nderitu, said the project is aimed at ensuring the rate of farmers who plant certified seeds in the country is increased from one per cent to five per cent. The project was launched by the director of crops in the Ministry of Agriculture John Irungu who said that the potato industry has been allocated Sh27 million in this financial year.

Nairobi Star

Erratic rainfall driving switch from maize to potatoes in Kenya

by Geoffrey Kamadi

Increasing unpredictable rainfall is driving a surge in potato planting in Kenya as growers of maize, the national staple crop, look to diversify toward more drought-tolerant crops.

Maize has been Kenya’s primary food crop for decades and is a major source of revenue for between 3.5 million and 4 million farmers, but unpredictable rainfall in the country is lowering yields and has led to rising food insecurity.

That is a particular problem because two-thirds of farmers in Kenya try to grow maize on land largely unsuitable for its cultivation, said Stanley Guantai of the Kenya Maize Development Programme, a U.S. AID funded effort to boost rural income.

Faced with worsening droughts, farmers are being encouraged to plant crops such as sorghum and millet instead of maize, Guantai said, but many are also opting to grow potatoes – a crop that is fast-maturing compared to maize and can be used to bridge the gap during shortages of the staple grain.

It remains unclear precisely how many farmers are abandoning maize. However, according to Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, the number of potato farmers has grown from 500,000 in 2003 to 800,000 today.

Production nearly quadrupled between 1992 and 2008, to 2.1 million tonnes, and potato cultivation now employs 2.5 million Kenyans, said Wilson Songa, Kenya’s agriculture secretary. Kenya’s population is 40 million.

Gradually, at least some families are coming around to the idea that maize may have to give way to potatoes on their dinner plates.

Margaret Vugutsa, a seamstress living on the outskirts of Nairobi, says that her family from western Kenya grew up eating ugali, a traditional and widely popular Kenyan porridge made of maize meal. But Vugutsa, a 50-year-old mother of four, says ugali has become expensive, with a 2 kg packet of maize flour – enough to provide a scarce two meals for her family - now selling for 85 Kenyan shillings (just over $1).

“On the other hand, potatoes of the same price can provide up to three, sometimes four meals for my family,” she said.

A meal of ugali also needs to be complemented by vegetables or meat, while potatoes can be eaten on their own, she said.

The increasing unpredictability of weather patterns in Kenya, believed linked to climate change, has dealt a severe blow to the country’s economy, particularly as droughts have become longer and more frequent over the past two decades.

Drought-related losses amounted to 240 billion Kenyan shillings ($3 billion) between 2000 and 2009, according to Nsanya Ndanshau, regional manager of the Eastern Africa Grain Council. The council promotes the exchange of information on matters affecting the grain industry in the East African region.

Maize yield per acre in particular has been dropping, said Abraham Mbugi, an East African sales executive with Monsanto in Kenya.

“Whereas 10 to 15 years ago an acre of land in the fertile Kenya highlands could produce an average of 20 bags of maize, weighing 90 kg each, the same land now produces 15 bags on average,” Mbugi said.

The highlands account for up to 60 percent of Kenya’s maize production. According to Mbugi, yields in the less fertile regions, which account for the balance of production, have declined from an average of six bags per acre to four bags over the same period.

As annual per capital maize consumption falls in Kenya – it is now below the minimum 98 kg per year recommended by the government - consumption of potatoes is slowly rising. Over the past 15 years, consumption of potatoes has increased from 25 kg to about 30 kg annually per capita, said Jackson Kabira, head of the National Potato Research Programme at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute’s (KARI) Tigoni Centre.

“As Kenya’s main staple food, maize production has fallen short of demand due to frequent droughts and low productivity,” Kabira said. “This sub-optimal productivity has consigned about half of Kenya’s population to a status of food insecurity, which could easily be met by the humble potato.”

Kabira contends that increasingly unpredictable weather patterns brought on by climate change now makes potato farming more competitive than maize farming.

“The potato production cycle is much shorter compared to that of maize,” he said. Potatoes can also yield crops up to seven times greater by weight than maize.

Interest in growing potatoes in Kenya has now surged to the point that KARI is struggling to keep up with demand for seed potatoes and new varieties. The Ministry of Agriculture says that more than 60,000 tonnes of seed potatoes are now required annually. Short of land on which to produce them, KARI has been forced to delay the release of three potato varieties originally unveiled in May 2010.

KARI officials now fear they may fail to reach their target of supplying 20 to 40 tonnes of basic potato seed to farmers in the next 24 months.

To speed production, KARI is looking into using aeroponic technology, which makes it possible to grow potato tubers in water mist instead of soil. KARI’s centre at Tigoni has demonstrated that aeroponics can produce more than 50 mini-tubers per plant, compared with between 5 and 10 mini-tubers for plants grown in soil.

Commercial production of seed potatoes through aeroponics, already underway in China and Korea, is only now being introduced in Kenya by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with donor agencies, including the Peru-based International Potato Centre.

Kenyan potato farmers, such as 60-year-old Patrick Njogu Gitau, say they are impatient to get their hands on the new seed.

Gitau cultivated Asian cabbages for 13 years because of the high price they fetched, but in 2006 a decline in once-regular rainfall led him to switch to potato farming, which proved even more profitable on his two-acre plot in Kiambu County.

Today Gitau is chairman of the Kenya National Potato Farmers’ Association, which formed in 2006 and now has 10,000 members. To meet demand and boost profits, he said he has rented additional land to put into potato production.

Junghae Wainina, a Kenyan businessman, similarly has profited from the potato boom by operating a potato cooling plant in Nyandaruea, a few kilometres from Nairobi. The 500 million Ksh ($7.4 million) plant, which opened in 2005, provides long-term storage for up to 6,000 tonnes of potatoes and is the only one of its kind in East Africa.

Alternet

Kenya to adopt soil-less, mid-air potato-breeding technology

by James Karuga

The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari) has introduced a new farming technology for breeding multiple disease free potato tubers in a bid to achieve a widespread take-off in productivity for the country’s potato farmers.

In Africa, according to a 2007 report by Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Egypt has the highest potato output at 2.6 million tonnes.

Kenya ranks 8th, harvesting around 0.8 million tonnes a year from an estimated 120,000 hectares. This translates to an average yield per hectare of 6.7 tonnes.

But output could be higher, says Kari, which reports that currently only one to two per cent of Kenyan farmers use certified potato breeds.

Over 90 per cent of Kenyan farmers still plant potato varieties with an optimum yield of only seven to 10 tonnes per hectare. The varieties are also susceptible to diseases and virus attacks and are not economical in the long run.

But the challenge of making better breeds available to farmers is hampered by the low numbers of reproduction laboratories in Kenya. Only the Agricultural Development Corporation in Molo and Kisima Farm in Timau breed new potato varieties. Meanwhile, many private breeders shy away from commercial potato tuber reproduction due to the high costs involved. Most local private breeders opt to breed seeds such as maize, which are less expensive.

Kari hopes that by importing a high-yield potato breeding technology it can attract more private breeders into the industry. Dubbed aeroponics, the new technology grows potato tubers in “air” without the use of soil.
Adopted by Kari from Lima in Peru last year, the technology is an improvement on the conventional way of breeding potato tubers from the soil.

In Peru it was introduced by the International Potato Centre. The tubers are grown in liquid chemical solutions with extra nutrients that increase resistance to disease. The extra nutrients include potassium nitrates, calcium, and phosphate minerals.

The technology consists of a meshed box partitioned into two. The partitions have holes through which the tubers grow. The tubers in the lower box partition produce an extensive root network. The lower box has a timed mist spray that releases liquid nutrients every five minutes. The box is wrapped with black plastic to create darkness but is aerated to ensure the tubers efficiently absorb the oxygen and carbon dioxide they need to grow. The aeration results in more tuber production.

Project specialist Joseph Ngaruiya said using aeroponics guarantees a farmer five times more tubers per plant compared to when tubers are planted in the soil. Also, “it guarantees sequential harvesting of tubers for six months,” said Mr Ngaruiya.

Tubers planted in the soil guarantee an optimum three months of yielding tubers. They are also vulnerable to pest and disease attack. The screen house enclosure of the aeroponics technology prevents such attacks.

The technology has been tested at Kari, Tigoni, using a 15m by 5m meshed box with 600 plants. Each plant is capable of producing 50 tubers. This amounts to 30,000 tubers produced in six months.

When Kari planted 5,000 of the tubers on a piece of land in a trial, the researchers harvested 14 bags of 50 kilogrammes each on the first harvest. In the second and third generation harvests they forecast yields of 140 and 1,400 bags respectively.

However, the technology is pricey: a 15m by 5m screen box with its associated accessories costs just over Sh250,000. The Aeroponics nutrient solution costs around Sh4,000.

Kari’s Tigoni potato research centre offers technical assistance on mixing the solutions. By introducing this technology to Kenya, Kari hopes to produce higher quality, disease free tubers for farmers.

Business Daily Africa

Kenyan farmer lauds internet as saviour of potato crop

by Will Ross


Kenyan farmer Zack Matere pulls his mobile phone out of his pocket holds it up and takes a couple of photos.

"It seems they have come back and are digging here again."

He is referring to a group of people who have encroached on a water catchment area and are endangering the whole community's water supply.

"When they came before, I took photos of what they were doing, posted them on my Facebook page and was able to get assistance. I got in touch with Forest Action Network and they came back to me quickly saying they would help me protect the catchment area."

This is just one of the ways in which he uses the internet.

Zack is growing tree seedlings on his farm in Seregeya near Eldoret, Kenya, and has managed to triple the price he gets for them thanks to the internet. Not long ago it also helped him discover a cure for his dying potato crop.

"I cycled 10km to the local cyber cafe, Googled "potato disease" and discovered that ants were eating the potato stems. I checked again online and found that one of the solutions was to sprinkle wood ash on the crop."

A few mouse clicks later he was able to find a local buyer for his rescued crop.


"I think I am the only farmer in the area who uses the internet."

Zack says he spends about 50 Kenyan shillings (66 US cents) each day accessing the internet via his mobile phone. This amount is unaffordable for many small-scale farmers, but Mr Matere says he intends to be the link between the internet and the community.

The plan is to set up notice boards in prominent positions such as trading centres and even move them to churches on Sundays. On these boards, called "Seregeya Leo" or Seregeya Today, he plans to post information he gleans from the net on issues such agriculture, health or education which can benefit the community.


It is not just the cost of accessing the internet that he thinks is restricting usage.
There is also a cultural barrier as Mr Matere is not convinced that all people would be content to browse via the phone in the isolation of their homes.

"The internet is quite an individual pursuit. But a noticeboard is more of a group thing. So if I post an item on a noticeboard on potato disease, for example, the community can read it, talk together and come to a decision."

With internet-enabled phones not available to all, we drive to the nearest internet cafe to see how accessible the net is in rural Kenya.


At Soy trading centre there is a shop with four PCs hooked up to the net via a single modem. The manager says about 15 people use the service each day but adds that sometimes the internet is down.

Zack starts clicking away and quickly comes up with the kind of information which he says the community needs to know about.

"Potato farmers dig in for law to block cartels," is the heading of one article.

"There is a cartel that is buying potatoes from the farmers in 130kg bags instead of 110kg sacks and they are paying the same price," notes Mr Matere.

He says he would translate this into Swahili and post it on the noticeboards, to warn people of the scam.

On the veranda of the internet cafe, tailor John Moss is busy pedalling his sewing machine. Despite being so close to the computers he has never used the internet. Noting that the whole world now seems to be accessing the internet, he says he wouldn't mind trying.


"I would use it to get in contact with friends," says Mr Moss. "It can also help me find out what other tailors are doing outside Kenya and learn from them."

Back on the farm, Zack has an idea that might help the 10 to 15 people who have been encroaching on the water catchment area.

"There is a lot of money in tree seedlings or bee hives. So if we can get these young people to use the land in an environmentally [friendly] way, they can get even more money than through farming."

He says he could also help them find a market.

"I have 400 Facebook friends and I think some of them can buy the honey."

"I am now seeing the practicality of the internet here in rural Kenya. The problem is I am the only one. That is why the noticeboard is important. All we need is a bit of relevant information to help us. Once it is made simpler and is more in the local language with more local content, people are going to access the internet here," he predicts.


BBC

South African regulatory rejection of GM potato proves controversial

by Munyaradzi Makoni

South Africa's Agricultural Research Council has appealed against the government's decision to reject a locally developed genetically modified (GM) potato it was hoping to release to farmers. The decision has split the industry.

The Pretoria government's Executive Council for Genetically Modified Organisms dismissed the application for a permit to release the potato. Both safety and economic grounds were given for the rejection.

The potato, SpuntaG2, contains a gene from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which acts like a built-in pesticide against the tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella). The moth is reported to cause rand 40 million (US$ 5 million) of losses to the South African potato industry each year.

Developers had hoped the potato would allow farmers to use fewer pesticides, reducing costs and helping the environment.

At a meeting held in Cape Town to discuss the ban, Gurling Bothma, a scientist at the ARC-Roodeplaat Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Institute, described the government's decision as frustrating. "I think they did not understand our results," Mr Bothma told the meeting.

The Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries has expressed concerns about the damage the modified potatoes would do to trade, as South Africa does not have the means to segregate GM crops from non-GM. Several trade partners want guarantees agricultural products are non-GM.

Another worry is that farmers would still need to spray SpuntaG2 to counter other pests. Moreover, the industry's biggest problems relate to a lack of water and fertiliser, not pests, according to government.

Julian Jafta, director of genetic resources at the department, says inadequate toxicity information is another factor in the rejection of SpuntaG2. Little information is available on the effects of inserting the new gene on potato allergen content .

Also opposing the introduction of the modified vegetable is Potatoes South Africa, an organisation representing commercial and smallholder potato farmers.

Ben Pieterse, research and development manager of Potatoes SA, said: "We support biotechnology and the future benefits it can bring. We will, however, not support any products that can cause health risks."

In addition, Mr Pieterse fears consumer resistance to GM potatoes would reduce consumption - South Africans currently eat 35 kilograms of potatoes per person annually. Exports would also suffer, he says.

But he argued for the continuation of GM potato research "in case a time will come in future when this technology is needed - then we should be ready," he said.

But ARC-Roodeplaat scientiest Mr Bothma said that there was a strong possibility that all GM potato research in South Africa would now cease due to lack of funding.

South Africa is the only country in Africa to have commercially released GM food crops - maize and soya - and the only country in the world to have allowed the genetic modification of the staple food, maize, according to the African Centre for Biosafety, which campaigned against the potato.

The appeal decision is expected within three months.

SciDevNet

South African government rejects commercial release of GM potato

In a damning and ground breaking ruling, South Africa’s GM body, the Executive Council (EC), has rejected attempts by the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) to bring GM potatoes to the South African market. The EC cited no less than 11 biosafety and socio economic and agronomic concerns for rejecting ARC’s commercial release application. These support the objections raised by the ACB that GM potatoes pose unacceptable risks to human health, the environment and the farming community.

The ARC has touted the GM potato, engineered to resist tuber moths, as a new agricultural technology that will benefit smallholder and commercial farmers. Its five year field trial programme has chewed up considerable public funds as well as having been bankrolled by USAID and Michigan state university.

According to Haidee Swanby of the ACB, “the precautionary decision taken by the EC concluded that ARC’s toxicology studies were inadequate, scientifically poorly designed and fundamentally flawed. It was unconvinced that the GM potato would benefit small holder farmers, who are faced with more fundamental production problems such as access to water and seed, and found that the Potato Tuber Moth is a low priority for most farmers.”

“We are elated with this decision because it confirms our contention that the GM potato was not developed in answer to pressing problems faced by South African farmers , but rather as a solution developed in search of a problem” said Mariam Mayet, Director of the ACB.

According to Swanby, “Potatos South Africa, representing commercial and small holder potato farmers opposed ARC’s application. Fruit and Veg City, Simba and McDonald’s also expressed their opposition to GM potatoes. Consumers in South Africa have also overwhelmingly expressed their opposition.”

Supermarket Online

Kenya to give renewed attention to potato cultivation

Potato is second most important food crop in Kenya after maize. Introduced in the Country a century ago by ritish settlers, potato is widely grown in the Kenyan Highlands, where altitude ranges between 1500-3000 meters above sea level.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, potato farming is a multimillion industry that employs 2.5 million people at all levels of value chain. Annual potato crop value is about Ksh5 billion at farm gate level and Ksh10 billion at the customer level. Potato consumption is expanding rapidly owing to changing dietary habits occasioned by urbanization. This is evidenced by high intake of potato crisps and fries among a burgeoning youthful population in urban centres. Per capita consumption of potato currently stands at 30 kgs per year as compared to per capita maize consumption of 60 kgs annually.

The Director, National Potato Research Centre at the Kenya Agriculture Research Centre (KARI), Jackson Kabira, says that Kenya used to be a net exporter of potatoes to India, Middle East and Europe three decades ago when its production was at the peak. However, potato production in Kenya” has stagnated since 1999-2007 due to factors associated with poor crop husbandry, climate change and low policy priority. The potato value chain is hobbled by a myriad challenges that includes poor marketing and storage, that dents farmers income and morale,” he says. He further attributes the decline of potato production to rains failure, and bacteria wilt.

Other bottlenecks that have dwarfed sustainable potato farming in Kenya include poor quality seeds and post harvest losses. Currently, Kenya produces an average of 800,000 metric tonnes of potatoes that translates into a National average of 7-9 tones per hectare as compared to Netherlands, which produces 40 tones per hectare.

The Kenyan government has recognized the critical role of potato in alleviating chronic hunger, against a background of dwindling production of maize and other staples. The realization comes against a prolonged dithering on the part of policy makers to give prominence to the staple.

“Since 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture has been working on a potato policy, the Permanent Secretary has formed a potato task force and plans are at advanced stage to appoint a desk officer to deal with potato issues," says Kabira.

Kabira said that the renewed attention on potato would help improve husbandry, streamline marketing and boost farmers’ revenues. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supply clean planting materials as well as subsidized farm inputs such as fertilizers to boost harvest.

Joseph Wango`mbe, Head of Finance and Administration, Africa Population and Health Research Centre(APHRC),observed that potato value chain is bedevilled by a myriad challenges such as unscrupulous middlemen, price volatility as well as glut. He says, “Potato has a crucial role to play during famine and therefore efforts must be stepped up in supplying clean seeds to farmers, organising markets as well as value addition to boost the competitiveness of potato.” He called on strengthening farmers association to boost their clout in bargaining for better prices on the commodity.

Africa Science News

Crackdown on al Qaeda hits Algeria's potato crop

by Lamine Chikhi

Algeria is suffering a potato shortage because officials have imposed strict controls on the use of fertiliser to stop al Qaeda militants using it as a bomb-making ingredient, farmers said.

Security experts say ammonia, used by farmers to improve crop yields, has also been found in bombs detonated by Algerian militants affiliated to al Qaeda.

State security forces in this North African country have cracked down hard on the insurgents but farmers say there has been an unforeseen consequence: a kilo of potatoes in the capital now costs more than three times what it used to.

"Lack of fertilizers, particularly ammonia, is the key reason behind the rise in the price of potatoes," said Azizou Redouane, a 28-year-old farmer from the Ain Defla region, 120 km (75 miles) west of Algiers.

"Ammonia ... guarantees a good harvest," a sweating Redouane said as he stood in his 30-hectare potato field. "To prevent armed groups from fabricating bombs with ammonia, the security forces are tightening control over the distribution of fertilizers. "When you ask for 10 kg of ammonia you get only 5 kg and you need to wait a long time before the local chamber of agriculture deals with your request," he said. "The direct impact is a poor harvest and a rise in prices.

Algerian farmers have to apply to their local chamber of agriculture, a farmers' syndicate, for approval to obtain fertiliser. Farmers said even if they were given clearance to buy ammonia, in some cases they were still required to bring the chemical to their farms under police escort to make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands.

"They tell us fertilizers are used by terrorists to fabricate bombs. This is why it is very difficult to get some ammonia to feed the land," said another farmer, Belkacem Aisssa. "Without fertilizers it is impossible to have a good yield," said Aissa, who was working his 18-hectare field. "I used to get 350 quintals (35 tonnes) per hectare when I used enough fertilizers, and now I have 250 quintals per hectare."

The impact of the lower potato yields is clear in the vegetable markets of the capital, Algiers. In the past week, the price for a kilo of potatoes reached a record 100 dinars ($1.37), compared to a normal price of under 40 dinars.

"Too expensive, it is too expensive. I am angry and I don't know how to feed my six kids," 71-year-old Zakia Rabehi said in one of the city's markets.

Food prices are already a sensitive issue in Algeria, a country of 34 million people which has to bring in much of its wheat and other foodstuffs from abroad at considerable expense. Bread and milk are subsidised by the government.

Algeria was plunged into a civil conflict between government forces and Islamist rebels in 1992 after the military scrapped legislative elections a radical Islamic party was poised to win.

International non-governmental organisations estimate that 200,000 people died in the subsequent violence.

The violence has fallen sharply in the past few years but a hard core of militants associated with al Qaeda continues to launch sporadic strikes against government targets.

Reuters

Chinese agro-institute announces global workshop on potato disease-detection

1. Objectives

China's research achievements in seed potato quality-detection and other advanced practical techniques will be shared among the participants. This is to promote the techniques on potato disease-detection in China to the world, as well as the extension and application of its products in developing countries. It will also enhance the capability of resolving problems in potato cultivation in developing countries, so as to strengthen the cooperation and international communication between them and China.

2. Courses offered

* Potato virus detection techniques;

* Potato viroid detection techniques;

* Potato variety purity identification techniques;

* Potato fungi detection techniques;

* Potato bacteria detection techniques.

3. Organizer:

Supervision & Testing Center for Virus-free Seed Potatoes Quality of Ministry of Agriculture of China (Harbin) (hereinafter referred as Center. Harbin is not only the center of politics, economy, education and culture for Heilongjiang province, but also the most important city for potato production.

The Supervision & Testing center established by Virus-free Seedling Research Institute of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 2001, is a quality control and testing center, authenticated by Ministry of Agriculture of China and legalized by China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) in 2001.

The Center is a non-profit and public welfare technical service department. Its duties include virus-free seed potato quality testing, arbitration testing, sample testing from markets, field inspection, study and reversion of quality control and test standards. Its duties also extend to technical consultation and training, etc.

4. Methods

The training program will be carried out interactively, including multimedia lectures, experimention, demonstration, free discussions, etc.

5. Working Language

English

6. Application details

In order to ensure high training quality, no more than 20 students from developing countries will be taken for the workshop. Priority will be given goes to early applicants. A maximum of four (4) participants from each particiapating country will be accepted. The applicants shall be capable of communicating freely in English, with at least 5 years working experience in agriculture.

Fill in the “Application Form for 2009 International Training Workshop on Potato Diseases Detection Techniques,” which can be requested by writing an email to:

potatotraining@yahoo.com

7. Expenses

1. International travel expenses shall be borne by the participants themselves (round-trip tickets between his/her home country and Harbin Airport or Harbin Railway Station of China).

2. Accommodations, group traveling and insurance in Harbin will be taken care of by the Chinese government and all the participants will stay at the same place. However, participants are advised to take some money with themselves for personal expenses such as phone calls, daily necessities and so on.

8. Location and dates

Location: Virus-free Seedling Research Institute of Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Supervision & Testing Center for Virus-free Seed Potato Quality of Chinese Ministry of Agriculture(Harbin)

Course Dates: August 21-September 09, 2009.

Closing date of application: June 30, 2009.

9. Contact Information

Our Center assumes responsibility for holding “International Training Workshop on Potato Diseases Detection Techniques” from Ministry of Science and Technology of P.R. China. It has successfully held “2008 International Training Workshop on Potato Diseases Detection Techniques” and will continuously carry out this plan in the future.

You are welcome to contact us for further training plans, joint research projects as well as academic exchanges.

Address: No. 368 Xuefu Road, Nangang District, Heilongjiang Province, P.R. China.
Postal code: 150086

Coordinators: Liu Weiting, Guo Mei, Ma Ji, Li Xuezhan

Tel: 86-451-86619234; 86-451-86682318；

Mobile:86-138 4512 9354

Fax: 86-451-86619234

E-mail: potatotraining@yahoo.com

Economic crisis threatens “potato boom”

Booming potato production in the developing world could falter as the global economic slowdown reduces investment, trade and potato farmers’ access to credit, a new Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report warned on December 15.

The threat comes at a time when potatoes have become an important staple food and a lucrative cash crop in many developing countries. China is the world’s biggest potato producer, and Bangladesh, India and the Islamic Republic of Iran are now among the world’s leading potato consumers.

Drawing on the most recent FAO statistics, the report, New Light on a Hidden Treasure, shows that the potato is the world’s number one non-cereal food crop, with total production reaching a record 325 million tons in 2007. More than half of the global harvest was produced in developing countries.

However, the report says “dark clouds are gathering over prospects for the year ahead”. The global economic slowdown threatens to reduce flows to developing countries of investment and development assistance, including the support to agriculture that has helped many countries strengthen their potato sectors.

Developed countries may be tempted to raise trade barriers, which already apply stiff tariffs on imported potato products, while the banking crisis will leave many farmers with no credit to invest in production in 2009.

“Urgently needed is a vigorous new agenda for potato research and development aimed at protecting countries’ food security and providing new market opportunities for potato producers,” said NeBambi Lutaladio, coordinator of FAO’s International Year of the Potato 2008 secretariat.

Currently, potato yields in Africa, Asia and Latin America average just 15 tons per hectare, less than half of those achieved in Western Europe and North America. To strengthen potato farming in developing countries, FAO and the International Potato Center have called for “potato science at the service of the poor” to provide potato growers with better quality planting material, varieties that are more resistant to pests, diseases, drought and climate change, and farming systems that make more sustainable use of natural resources.

“Farmers in highland areas of Africa can harvest 25 tons of tubers from one hectare in just 90 days, which is why potato production is booming in countries like Uganda,” said NeBambi Lutaladio. “When you add value to production like that, through better storage and processing, you not only meet food needs, but have a highly profitable cash crop that can drive economic development and sustain livelihoods.

“But technology improvements need to be accompanied by other, more general measures for agricultural development, such as improved farmer access to extension, credit and production inputs, better post-harvest management and links to agro-processing and markets,” Lutaladio said.

Export Industry News

Egypt aims to increase potato production

By Erika Sherk

The focus has always been on rice, wheat, and maize — the world’s most important food crops. This focus has turned into a spotlight lately, with the dramatic heights the prices of these crops have hit, some almost doubling in 2008.

Behind these three superstars, however, lurks a humble, knobbly vegetable. Though potatoes have been languishing in the shadows of the cereal crops, it would seem that this won’t last for long: The world is starting to take notice of the many-eyed tuber and, according to some, the potato just might save the world.

A lofty claim, so first some background: The much-discussed food crisis that sparked riots in Egypt this spring is still being felt across the country. People are going hungry, with no way to keep up with the rising price of their breakfast. This painful situation is the impetus behind a United Nations-backed movement to bring potatoes to the top of the list of potential solutions to the worldwide food crisis, going so far as to declare 2008 the International Year of the Potato.

In Egypt, those who know potatoes say that the lowly, oft-mocked crop could feed the hungry and pump cash into the economy. Big aspirations for one little vegetable, but the government hopes to increase potato production in the country by 60% over the next 10 years, planning to increase both consumption and export sales, which, they say, will feed the country’s hungry citizens and voracious economy.

Even before the recent UN attention, the vegetable had been moving into a spot of importance in Egypt over the last 20 years and especially the last five. Today, potatoes are the country’s number one vegetable export. Egypt ranks among the top potato exporters globally and is number one in Africa. When one considers that potatoes are being lauded as a savior for countries much less suited for potato growing, it is unsurprising that Egypt is focusing so much on Chipsy’s raw form.

While it’s possible to grow potatoes almost anywhere, there are about 100 countries planting potatoes for commercial use, according to Dr. Ramzi El-Bedewy, president of the African Potato Association and member of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 2007, 350 million tons of potatoes were produced worldwide. Of the 100 producing countries, more than 20 are in Africa. Egypt is tops in the continent because the climate, coupled with the loamy soils — the potato’s favorite — make for the ultimate incubator.

“Egypt is considered a greenhouse,” says Dr. Mohamed Abu-Zaid, director of field crop research at the Agricultural Research Institute of Egypt. This is due to the fact that the country can produce three crops of potato each year — the summer, winter, and ‘nili’ (planting mid-August to the end of October) seasons. Another bonus in Egypt is the high productivity — the fields here produce a high crop yield, says Dr. Abu-Zaid, ranging between 20 tons and 50 tons per hectare (8.4–21 tons per feddan).

This can be compared to an average of 40 tons in developed countries and about 20 tons in developing countries, according to the Peru-based International Potato Center (CIP). The CIP is a privately-funded research organization working to reduce poverty through promoting potatoes as a way to increase food security. Last year, 300,000 feddans in Egypt were cultivated with the crop, producing about 2.6 million tons of potatoes. The amount of potato-cultivated land in the country has grown in recent years, moving from 292,000 feddans in 1995 to 300,000 feddans in 2005 — an increase of 2.6%. Not a major jump, but potatoes are rising up as other crops decline. Potato-cultivated land area as a percentage of total cultivated land rose by 19.9% in that period.

Potato crop yields have increased by 90% in the last five years, due to the introduction of high-yield varieties and improvements in disease control and fertilization. This is the one thing that has saved farmers as they battle the growing cost of growing. Production costs rose from LE 3,000 per feddan in 2000 to LE 3,700 in 2005 — an increase of 25%, due to the all-encompassing inflation in the country, according to Dr. Samir Farag, deputy director of the Horticulture Research Institute in Doqqi.

It’s becoming more difficult all around for farmers, says El-Bedewy, who works as a potato consultant with small to corporate-scale farms. Fertilizer and pesticide prices have increased. Land rent has increased by 300% in the last three years, he says. However, despite these increases, the crop has remained profitable — though it costs more to produce the potato, the costs are recovered because the yield is so high.

The other reason farming potatoes is a good financial move is the flipside of global inflation — selling prices are rising too. Export prices have increased between 70% and 100% over the last five years, according to El-Bedewy.

Though prices have been rising for exported potatoes, those produced for local consumption have remained cheap. In the off-season, one can buy a kilo of potatoes in the market for about LE 2, says El-Bedewy, and about 50 piastres when they are in season. This is because local potatoes and export potatoes are of a different quality and so local potatoes are not tied to global market prices.

“The difference [between local and export potato pricing] is like the difference between the moon and the Earth,” says Salah Hegazy, chairman of Agrofood, a vegetable exporting company headquartered in Cairo. The average price for a ton of export-quality potatoes sold to the UK — the most lucrative market — was about LE 4,500 at press time, including taxes and custom duties. The same volume of potatoes would sell locally for about LE 1,300, he says.

Local potatoes are a natural by-product of export production. Agrofood, for example, exports 60-70% of its potatoes. These are the first class specimens that meet European Union (EU) regulations. Their imperfect siblings, the potatoes that are too big, too small or weirdly shaped then make their way to the market stalls of Egypt and eventually into the nation’s supper pots. This is the magic of potato pricing in Egypt: The country can sell them for lots and eat them for little. Conversely, it is also good for farmers: They can sell the top grade product at global prices and yet a market still exists for the unwanted misshapen leftovers.

Egypt is one of the top 10 potato exporting countries in the world. It began exporting the vegetable about 20 years ago, according to El-Bedewy, shifting 150,000 tons annually. This number remained virtually unchanged until recently. In 2000, the total exports were just 156,000 tons. By 2005 this figure had jumped to 390,000 tons — an increase of 150%. This can be attributed to higher crop yields and trade liberalization between Egypt and the EU. The total value of potato exports increased from LE 92.5 million in 2000 to LE 446.3 million in 2005, according to Farag. Lebanon and Italy are the top markets for the exports, followed by Kuwait, the UAE, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Egypt’s main potato-exporting season is from October to March. This is where the country has the climatic advantage. While other parts of the world are frosty and cold, potatoes are still growing tucked in Egypt’s warm soil. However, the shipments must make it overseas before the middle of May, says El-Bedewy. Then, the exports from Egypt are taxed heavily to make space for the potatoes harvested in southern Europe.

Egypt’s trade agreements with Europe have made it easy to export, Hegazy says. Increased quotas and reduced tariffs for agricultural goods, resulting from the 2004 EU-Egypt Association Agreement, “opened the gate.” Since the signing of the agreement, Egypt had a quota of 250,000 tons of potatoes that can be exported duty-free. Everything beyond that had a 60% duty reduction.

However, potato trade recently opened up even more — in July Egypt signed an agreement in principle with the EU to remove tariffs on certain agricultural products, including potatoes. A January 2009 implementation is expected. The agreement also removes the cap on the amount of potatoes Egypt can export to the EU, although it is uncertain whether the new regulations will apply year round.

The trade liberalization, the staggered seasons, and Egypt’s high production all make for a favorable trade climate, and this is why so much effort is being made to increase potato production — to take advantage of the cash benefits and to put some of that cash back into agricultural development.

The newly reclaimed areas (NRAs) of Egypt have contributed in a major way to the rise in commercial potato production for exporting. The EU banned Egyptian potato exports for periods in the 1990s due to recurring problems with a disease called brown rot, sending exporters into a panic and balance books into the red. The country had to find virgin soil untouched by the scourge to be able to regain its trade access. This, combined with the general need for more agricultural land, has led to the reclamation of 112,500 acres of disease-free desert land for potatoes, according to Farag.

The NRAs are scattered throughout the country and the land has proved vital to the continued increase in export volumes, as only potatoes from this ‘clean’ land will be accepted overseas. The soil is rigorously tested for disease, and most exporting farmers have had to move their operations to this land.

“All our land is in the virgin land region in the desert [...] to secure that there is no kind of contamination,” says Hegazy, of Agrofood. More land reclamation is needed still, as visions for the future include more potatoes springing from Egyptian soil. “We do have a plan to increase the production in the next 10 years by at least 60%,” says El-Bedewy. But at present, there is not enough usable land. Most of the increase is projected to become processed potato products such as chips and french fries, he says, which means that the potatoes must be grown in the NRAs.

However, as unappetizing as diseased potatoes might sound, they do no harm to humans. The issue is the effect that brown rot has on the crop: It creates, unsurprisingly, an early rot in the potato, turning it into an oozing brown mess, the reason that the EU has thrown up strict regulations to keep it out. However, this doesn’t mean that the old land cannot be used to grow potatoes for local consumption.

Don’t toss out that Chipsy sandwich though, Egyptians aren’t eating diseased potatoes. Brown rot has been nearly 100% eradicated, it is just that European regulations are so stringent that the EU will not accept even 0.1% incidence of the disease in a shipment.

Though it might seem to be all roses on the potato front, a lot of small farmers are still struggling to keep up. Farming is never an easy business and some fellaheen in Egypt have had difficulty keeping pace with the changing nature of the game. Understanding EU regulations, grasping the necessity of the newly-reclaimed land, and staying on top of new varieties of potato available can be a lot for a farmer who has spent his entire life toiling on his two-feddan farm. And there are a lot of these: Eighty-five percent of farmers own less than three feddans, according to Hegazy. “The only way to do it is to gather them in a self-help organization to have a bigger volume and economic size [...] if we succeed to do that it will affect very much their social and economic situation.” This farm-based problem is not unique to potatoes, but it is an ever-present issue as Egypt pushes the vegetable to the forefront.

Out on his land at the Abou Gazia farm, 15 kilometers from Tanta in the Nile Delta, a glance at Aly Abou Gazia’s leathery skin betrays his lifetime of farming. It is in his blood — the farm has been in his family for more than 400 years. The 74-year-old plants 100 of his 400 acres with potatoes. He has always grown them, he says, because potatoes are always a profitable crop, even if the profits sometimes vary wildly. In 2006 he sold his potatoes for LE 1,800 per ton. In 2007 the price dropped to LE 1,500.

“The farmers who grow potatoes, they are gamblers,” he says. He sells half his potatoes to a local factory and the other half go to the local market. His potatoes are barred from export to the EU because his land is not in an NRA. He worries that he and other Delta farmers may be left behind as farmers on reclaimed land reap all the benefits of exporting.

“When I look to the future, it doesn’t look very good,” he says. “We are afraid for the marketing in the future of [potatoes]. Mainly, will [buyers] concentrate on the newly reclaimed land? What about the Delta? Many are small and middle-class farmers here.”

Taking risks might be part of the fun for the high rollers, he says, but “small and middle-class farmers don’t want to gamble.” They do anyway, evidenced by Abou Gazia’s middle-sized farm — 25% planted with potatoes — but it can be stressful. But despite the risk, at the end of the day, “potatoes are profitable,” he says.

“If you are going to eat only potato you are not going to have any health problems,” claims El-Bedewy. He reels off a list of the vegetable’s nutritional attributes: protein, carbohydrates, oil, vitamin C, vitamins B3, 6 and 12, vitamin C and iron. Potatoes have had a bad reputation for making you fat but the vegetable is not the problem, he says. If you took a block of tofu and covered it in butter and sour cream the end result would be the same. Potatoes alone are a good starch, people just need to be smarter when choosing how to consume them.

The big question, when it comes to the eating issue, is: Will bread-addicted Egypt be able to let go of its favorite carbohydrate and embrace potatoes? “Sure. If you go to a large number of Asian countries they are not using bread like us. They are using rice. If we are going to produce potatoes in large quantities we are going to shift to potato. People learn by doing,” says El-Bedewy.

Others have a harder time believing that Egyptians will give up their beloved bread — used in everything from fuul and tammeya sandwiches to Omm Ali. “We believe the potato is very important,” says Farag, “a very important vegetable crop that we can depend upon in addition to wheat. But as a substitute? No.”

Still, just having a substitute in a country that has seen bloodshed due to rising bread prices in recent months can make a difference. El-Bedewy feels that people can adapt to anything, it just takes time. He figures that if the price of rice and wheat are skyrocketing and there is a surplus of cheap potatoes rolling down the streets of Egypt, hungry people will figure it out. “I’m sure that if we are going to give more attention to potato and sweet potato we can face a large problem of the food gap in Egypt.”

Despite growing all kinds of other vegetables, Hegazy agrees, “I think potatoes will be the backbone for this country, for feeding these big numbers of population.” Omnia Helmy, lead economist at the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies (ECES), says that from a consumer standpoint, it is certainly possible. “It’s a matter of habit. People here depend on bread more. Of course, if potatoes are available and at reasonable prices and the quantity is increasing [] The pattern of consumption takes some time to change.” She pauses. “But as people are suffering nowadays from price hikes maybe they are more ready for a change.”

If people can be convinced to eat potatoes instead of bread, it could make a difference economically, particularly with Egypt’s vulnerability as a net importer of food, Helmy says. “I think it might work out to mitigate the implications of the low percentage of self-sufficiency in wheat, high increase in import prices and so on.” The fact that Egypt is a net food importer leaves it at the mercy of world prices and supply. For a more stable economy, the country needs to improve its self-sufficiency, she says.

Reversing the country’s dependency on expensive imported wheat could also cut back on the subsidy cash flowing out from the government budget. The government will spend an estimated LE 87.3 billion on goods and services subsidies in 2008: 28% of its total expenditure and 9.6% of the GDP, she says, citing ECES projected numbers. These numbers have jumped with inflation. In 2007, the government subsidy bill was LE 53 billion, 24% of total expenditure, and 8% of GDP. The economist says this money could be going elsewhere into the country’s developing economy.

Another argument, according to Helmy, for increasing potato exports is the fact that some of Egypt’s other farm exports are decreasing, including beans and the perennial Egyptian classic, cotton, lessening the country’s importance as an exporter. This leaves potatoes as the best bet to keep sales of agricultural products high, and hopefully, to increase them. In 2007, Helmy states, agriculture exports from Egypt were “only $900 million [LE 4.9 billion], and of course we are aiming at increasing it much more.”

Behind the scenes in Egypt, and elsewhere, people are working to improve awareness of the potato potential. In December 2007, a conference was held in Alexandria called Potato, Sweet Potato, and Root Crops Improvement for Facing Poverty and Hunger in Africa hosted by the African Potato Association.

The theme was chosen for the same reason that the UN declared this the International Year of the Potato: “because we realized the food gap problem and we realized that the potato crop can substitute a large quantity of the wheat importation. We found that the potato is not [being put] in the right place in the developing countries. They didn’t realize the potato can replace the other crops, can be used as high cash money crop, and also to [...] fight hunger in developing countries. Therefore we would like people to give more attention to potatoes [...] to decrease the food gap,” says El-Bedewy.

Some countries have paid attention. Developing countries with poorer conditions than Egypt — and hungrier people — provide case studies on the impact of increased potato production. Potato yields in Nepal increased from six to 12 tons per hectare (14 to 28 tons per feddan) between 1986 and 2004, leading to a 600% increase in output between 1970 and now, according to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The organization estimates this has positively affected more than one million small-scale farmers — both their nutrition and their profits.

North Korea increased its potato farm area from 50,000 to 200,000 hectares in the same period, increasing its consumption of the tuber from 16 to 60 kilograms per capita. Potato output in Bhutan has doubled since 1970, improving the livelihood of farmers for whom potatoes were the sole source of income. The increase led the country to move from subsistence to exporting — it now exports potatoes and seed potatoes to neighboring countries. India is another example, according to El-Bedewy. The country has increased its potato production by at least 40% in the last four years. “They don’t have the food gap like many countries,” he says.

The potato’s hype is big right now, but as 2008 nears its end, so will its moment in the UN-sanctioned sun. But judging by the passion with which the potato people in Egypt and the world are working, it won’t mean the tuber will retreat back into the proverbial underground. Beyond the passion and the words, there are numbers and case studies to back it up: The potato has potential. It remains to be seen if it will save the world, but if things go according to the UN’s plan, people may soon rethink their potato prejudices and see instead a big, lumpy, nugget of edible gold lying in the dirt.

Business Today Egypt

Kenya to pay renewed attention to potato farming

Minister of Agriculture William Ruto has said that the Kenya Government has entered into partnership with a Dutch company to help rejuvenate the production and marketing of potatoes.

Mr Ruto also said that his ministry is finalising the paperwork for establishment of a Potato Board that will oversee the process. He is on a week-long tour of the Netherlands to enhance Kenya’s potato, horticultural and diary farming interests and prospects.

Ruto said his ministry’s partnership with Dutch company Agrico Potatoes will help rejuvenate potato farming in Kenya, which has been affected by a host of difficulties, including lack of certified seed and cold storage facilities. These along with a virtually non-existent production and marketing chain have seen Kenya fail to capitalise on its potential for potato farming.

Lack of cold storage facilities has led to wasted crop, low prices and exposed farmers to unscrupulous middlemen.

“I’m glad that business people and government agencies in the Netherlands have agreed to work with private enterprises in Kenya and with the government to develop new, well-researched, high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties,” Ruto said.

He noted that, ultimately, Kenya would benefit from the research experience and expertise in potato business that is available in the Netherlands, especially since the biggest problem in the Kenyan potato industry is the lack of well-researched yielding varieties of the tuber.

The minister added that the government already has ideas on how to obtain funding for the project. “The start-up capital is the responsibility of the government and we have already identified the sources of the seed money for this project.

“The Netherlands has the right cold storage technology and it is these facilities that will help Kenya make potatoes available all year round and also develop the potential for export,” he added.

Agrico Potatoes’ Export Manager, Mr Jacob Mijnheer, appealed to the Kenya Government to create an enabling environment for the development of potato farming.

“We need to be sure about the regulations and the Kenya Government needs to be clear about the restrictions as this would help the private businesses to flourish. Kenya has great potential in potato farming,” Mijnheer said.

Daily Nation

Controversy over GM potato rages in South Africa

A pest-resistant strain of genetically modified potato, earmarked for possible commercial release in South Africa, will be of no use to local spud farmers, said the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) last week. It will also increase risk to the farmer in an already volatile agricultural sector.

This statement was in response to the Agricultural Research Council's (ARC) application for permission to release the potato commercially. A formal objection was made by the ACB to the Department of Agriculture (DoA) this week, and includes concerns expressed by key industry players, namely Potato SA, McCain Foods Limited, McDonald's, Spur, Simba and Fruit & Veg City.

ACB director Mariam Mayet said the organisation objected to the proposed "general release" of the tuber moth resistant potato, SpuntaG2, for which the ARC was seeking permission to release under the Genetically Modified Organisms Act.

Should the ARC's application be approved, it will allow the ARC to make the SpuntaG2 potato available to South African farmers for general use, including commercial farming, thus allowing it to enter the food supply chain. Farmers will be asked to participate in further tests on behalf of the ARC and monitor the potato's efficiency.

"It is highly unusual for a GM rollout, and the first time we've seen this kind of application where agronomic assessments are done by farmers," said Mayet. ACB and Potato SA questioned the appropriateness of the cultivar for South African conditions. "The tuber moth is not high on the list of problem pests for our farmers," explained Mayet. "This cultivar of potato appears to be a solution, developed in a foreign lab, to search for a problem that hardly exists in South Africa."

According to the ARC, this GM cultivar will help reduce tuber moth damage in the field as well as in stored potatoes. "But Potato SA tells us that this moth is ranked sixth in the list of priority pests and diseases, after leaf miner, late and early blight, scab and certain viruses. This is not a major problem for our farmers."

Field trials have already been conducted locally on the SpuntaG2, which was engineered in the United States and contains a protein (CryIIa1) that kills the tuber moth. The ARC's permit application is on the strength of these trials. The ACB objection challenged the results of the trials, which it said were flawed both in their design and interpretation. Furthermore, the lobby questioned the socio-economic benefits of this potato to local commercial and small holder farmers.

Independent socio-economic studies found that this strain of GM potato will not benefit the sector by reducing input costs of pesticides, nor reduce the resultant toxins in the environment, since the same chemicals used to control more serious pests are used to control the tuber moth. It will also increase risk for farmers because of a lack of consumer confidence in genetically modified organisms.

"Our farmers want new cultivars that are drought, pest and disease tolerant. But they don't list the tuber moth as a significant pest," said Mayet. A consumer petition was included in the ACB's objection submitted to the DoA, signed by over 2,100 people from around the country. The overarching objection from the public is about the lack of labelling legislation in South Africa, in a context where GM foods are not proven to be safe.

"Consumers are outraged that they have no right to choose what they eat or feed their families because legislation does not require products to show on the labelling whether or not food contains genetically modified organisms," Mayet concluded.

Supermarket

Genetically modified potato will benefit South African farmers

The availability of a new genetically-modified (GM) potato variety will be a blessing for South African small-scale farmers, GM interest group AfricaBio has said.

The group said it supported the introduction of a GM version of the Spunta potato variety, which has been developed by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). The new variety is resistant to the potato tuber moth, the nemesis of small scale farmers without the resources to store crops under ideal conditions.

‘(The GM potato) is intended for the growing number of small scale farmers in South Africa, who we believe will play a vital role in food security in future,’ said Jocelyn Webster of AfricaBio.

Following six years of local research based on the original GM creation at the University of Michigan in the US, ARC has now applied to the South African agriculture ministry for a safety assessment and general release approval so that farmers can start with participatory trials, according to Kobie de Ronde of the ARC.

Webster said the GM potato will help eliminate the loss of about 40 million rands ($5 million) worth of potato crops caused by the tuber moths annually.

But the industry body Potatoes South Africa (PSA) remained sceptical. Ben Pieterse of PSA said the advantages of the GM potato did not weigh up against the possible consumer resistance and export losses.

ARC countered this by saying that the new variety will be used on a small scale only by farmers who did not have the capital for access to insect killers to fight the moth and would not be exported. Farmers and consumers would also be able to opt to use traditional varieties or the GM version of local potatoes, which would be clearly labelled.

South African consumers are still very resistant to using GM produce, although great success has been achieved in recent years with GM maize, soya bean and cotton crops which are all insect and herbicide resistant.

Sindh Today

GM potato is no good for small scale farmers

Dear Editor,

I would like to raise a concern I have about Hans Pienaar's article, 'SA's GM Spud awaits approval', which was re-published on your webpage on July 27, 2008 under the heading 'South African GM potato a step closer to market.' My concern is with the superficial coverage the article provides and what I would see as clear PR manipulation of the journalist.

The article is based overwhelmingly around the views and comments of Hans Lombard who is described in the article simply as "a GM expert." The article begins with the statement, "Africa's first locally developed genetically modified crop has finished it's field trials." It goes on to say, "The potato was developed for local conditions by an Agricultural Research Council team led by Dr Kobie de Ronde." It reports his view that the GM potato is a "homegrown project developed by SA scientists using an American design."

I have the greatest respect for the ARC and it's neutral, independent and objective scientific research. I would therefor be interested in Dr de Ronde's view on the development of this potato.

My concern is that the article fails to place any of these claims in context. For instance, the potato concerned is the patented Dutch hybrid Spunta, which was first registered in 1967 by J. Oldenberger. This potato is grown from True Potato Seeds (TPS).

Unlike ordinary potatoes which are grown by planting the tubers, these potatoes develop true seeds enclosed in tomato like pods. The significance of the hybrid Spunta is that the sale-able quality of the offspring of these seeds or the tubers will degenerate if collected and replanted by farmers. This means that growers will be unable to reproduce from parent crops as they have done from time immemorial and will be locked into repurchasing seeds annually.

The unfortunate part is that the patented genes will not degenerate and the risk of contamination of other varieties by the offspring remains at a high level.

While the article does make reference to "an American design" it does not mention that the "design" incorporates patented genes owned by two major GM seed corporations, namely Syngenta and Monsanto. http://iia.msu.edu/project_potato.html

This information seems important in the context of claims made in the original article that this is the "first African GM crop" and that it is "developed by South Africans"; the implication being that no foreign patents are involved.

The truth is that exactly the same Dutch-patented Spunta potato with the Syngenta patented Bt gene and the controversial Monsanto patented anti-biotic resistant npt11 marker gene was tested for eight years by AGERI, the Egyptian equivalent of our ARC. It may have been coincidental, but tests conducted on Bt potatoes by the Egyptian University in 1998 indicated structural changes to the ileum of mice.

http://www.gmfreeireland.org/potato/info/ArpadPusztai.pdf

The Egyptian Government subsequently refused approval of this very same Spunta GM potato. http://www.liberationafrique.org/IMG/pdf/usaid-04-2005-en.pdf

Powerful forces within the seed industry lobbied South Africa and with promises of huge R&D grants the project was restarted in South Africa. It was registered in the name of Golden Genomics, a company solely owned by Muffy Koch. Muffy was well respected and a highly placed GM lobbyist who had previously served on SAGENE, the authority which at that time granted approval for field trials of genetic crops in South Africa. http://www.lobbywatch.org/print-profile1.asp?PrId=271.

From the above it is clear that it is a dishonest deception to claim that this is an African or a South African GM potato.

Hans Lombard is a press and advertising agent. He bills himself as a 'consultant to the biotech industry'. Most of his work centers around the large Corporate GM Seed companies and their front Africabio. It is worth noting that most of the organisations which he represents have come under criticism for the way in which they promote their projects.

It is not only "GM-activists" who have noticed the inaccuracies of their claims, but also concerned Medical Doctors and Veterinarians regarding the downplaying of the dangers of anti-biotic resistant marker genes in the GM -potato for human consumption. http://www.emea.europa.eu/pdfs/human/opiniongen/5693707en.pdf

Agent Lombard contradicts himself when he says the potato tuber moth costs the food industry R40-million annually but then goes on to say, correctly, that because the damage takes place during storage, large scale farmers and firms do not have to fight tuber moths as their potatoes are processed quickly. He claims the GM-potato is specifically for small scale African farmers and will reduce their costs. But he fails to inform the public that African farmers have their own indigenous knowledge storage methods, such as the izisele method, whereby natural ammonia gas from the cattle kraal is channeled to the storage area to immediately eradicate potato tuber moth larvae.(National Dept of Agriculture/ARC http://www.nda.agric.za/docs/grain/grain.htm).

The truth of the matter is that there is no added value to this GM crop for small scale farmers, as there are simple and more cost effective methods of eradication during storage.

The Farmers Weekly, 25 July 2008, page 14 reports that Potatoes South Africa (PSA) will oppose the application for the release of the GM Spunta potato onto the market for commercial use. The PSA has also requested mandatory labeling of GM potatoes. Some months back the Cape Times reported that both Woolworths and Pick & Pay had also stated that they would not sell these potatoes. Yet Agent Lombard expects small scale farmers to grow these potatoes that have been rejected by consumers all over the world.

In two other recent cases the South African Advertising Authority have ordered Monsanto to withdraw adverts with misleading claims regarding the safety testing of GM foods. http://www.flag-sa.org/blog/2008/01/falsified-gm-food-safety-claims.html

I appreciate that your journalists will be generalists dealing with a whole range of topics, but this is an important global issue with potentially major implications for the future of agriculture in many parts of the world. I am sure that your journalists will therefore want to provide coverage that is balanced and informative.

To help deal with the issue of manipulation by lobbyists, SpinWatch - to whom I am copying this letter - is developing a database that may be of interest to your journalists and may help them to pose pertinent questions - http://www.spinwatch.org. The US-based Center for Media and Democracy operates a similar database: SouceWatch - http://www.sourcewatch.org.

Yours faithfully,
Trevor Wells

Farmers' Legal Action Group-South Africa

www.flag-sa.org

Protestors cause halt to field testing of GM crops in UK

A trial of genetically modified potatoes that could help protect billions of pounds worth of crops from disease is to be abandoned after scientists admitted it was futile to conduct such research on crops in the UK.

The scientists claim that sabotage by environmental protesters has made it too expensive to conduct GM crop trials in this country under the current regulations, that require the exact location of each trial to be made public.

They called on the Government to allow the location of small scale trials to be kept secret or to establish a high security facility where research on genetically modified plants could be protected from vandals.

One of only two trials on GM plants being conducted in Britain this year was destroyed last month by protesters at a field near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, who pulled up the crop.

Scientists at Leeds University had been hoping to test the effectiveness and environmental impact of a new type of genetically modified potato that was resistant to attack from tiny cyst nematode worms.

Cyst nematodes cost the UK farming industry more than £50m a year and more than 80 per cent of potato fields in the country are affected by the pest. Worldwide, nematodes costs more than £60bn and can effect damage important crops such as bananas, which form up to 25 per cent of the diet in many African countries.

Professor Howard Atkinson, who led the trial, said he had decided to abandon research after the destruction of the crops. He is now due to meet with Environment Minister Phil Woolas later this year to discuss ways of protecting GM trials.

He said: "Is it appropriate for universities to put up security that will cost a six figure sum to protect research from unlawful acts by zealots? We are not going to pursue the cyst nematode trials at the moment. I am not sure what the future holds for GM trials.

"I can only see two solutions. The first would be to have the Government regulate and assess trials but not publish their location or, and I think this is less likely, to have some sort of nationally secure trial field."

The cyst nematode trial, which consisted of 400 plants, cost of around £25,000. To put up security fencing and 24 hour surveillance to protect the plants from protesters would have cost at least another £100,000.

The only other GM trial currently being carried out in the UK is with potatoes that have been engineered to be resistant to potato blight which was vandalised last year in Cambridge. The remains are now protected by security fencing with 24 hour patrols.

Under existing laws, full details of every GM crop trial must be disclosed in advance on a Government website, with a six-figure grid reference identifying the precise location of the field.

Critics insist that GM crops could be harmful to the environment and almost all of the 54 GM trials conducted in the UK since 2000 have been targeted by protesters because of these fears.

GM companies and scientists now want the rules changed so that they can conduct small scale trials at secret locations so they can help to answer some of the questions that still surround the effectiveness and safety of GM crops.

Professor Wayne Powell, director of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany where the potato blight trials are being conducted, added: "The decision to release the six figure grid reference is a matter for the Government, but it is an issue that needs to be addressed. I do believe we need to be utterly transparent.

The Telegraph

African Center for Biosafety urges rejection of S.African GM potato

Taking into account that South Africa’s Agriculture and Research Council (ARC) has announced their intention to apply to the South African government for permission to make GM potatoes commercially available, we hereby vehemently oppose the marketing and growing of GMO potatoes and implore the SA GMO council to reject the application outright, on the following grounds:

Force feeding fellow Africans with dangerous food

ARC’s GM potato work is funded by USAID, which is well known for their tactics to push US corporate interests in GM in Africa. They are up front about their goal to “integrate GM into local food systems” through their Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project (ABSP).

South Africa exports 90% of its potato crop to its neighbours in SADC, where many have imposed bans or biosafety restrictions on GM food. ARC’s GM potatoes will force feed fellow Africans with food that they have neither asked for nor have a say in.

GM Potatoes won’t help African farmers

GM potatoes are located within the “Green Revolution” package for Africa that proffers technical and economic solutions for African agriculture. These solutions, designed by transnational agribusiness, create dependence on hi-tech, capital-intensive technology that is inappropriate for small-scale farmers. Public research money would be better used on enhancing more appropriate agricultural systems that ensure local food security, adaptability to changing climates and local control over resources.

African farmers face the loss of their markets and control over their farming systems if South Africa paves the way for the introduction of GM potatoes onto the continent.

Biosafety Concerns

GM potatoes are touted as a tool to reduce the use of pesticides, particularly to control the tuber moth, which is most destructive during storage. However, these potatoes express toxins 24 hours a day that accumulate in the environment and throughout the food chain. As pests develop a resistance to the toxin, this is a short-term and short-sighted solution to the tuber moth problem.

GM potatoes will easily spread throughout the continent – a pocket of potatoes bought for consumption can be transported across borders and ultimately be planted in places where they have not been approved and cannot be traced. This will impact on each country’s sovereign right to decide on whether or not they want to accept GM potatoes, as well as impact on their Biosafety.

Health Concerns

There is no consumer confidence in the long-term safety of GM potatoes and they pose no benefit to the consumer. Problems with Bt genes that have been commercialised in the past have included immune reactions, impacts on organ weight and function and allergic reactions.

Additionally, the use of antibiotic resistant marker genes poses an unacceptable risk to the health of Africans. There is a possibility that the use of these genes could diminish the efficacy of antibiotics such as Kanamycin, a drug that is listed in the WHO Essential Medicines Library as a drug reserved for treating multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

There is no reason for consumers to take the risk of eating a novel food for the sake of storage requirements for farmers.

African Centre for Biosafety

South African GM potato a step closer to market

Africa's first locally developed genetically modified crop has finished its field trials and is now before an interdepartmental committee that will decide whether it can go on South African markets.

The GM potato, developed by SA scientists using an American "design", has been adapted to fend off the potato tuber moth, which costs the food industry up to R40-million annually.

The potato was developed for local conditions by an Agricultural Research Council team led by Dr Kobie de Ronde. The findings of six years of field trials were to be presented to the media in Pretoria on July 25.

Last week De Ronde's scientists were set to complete the paperwork needed for the crop to be commercially produced. A committee comprising representatives from six departments now has to start a process that can take anything from six months to a year.

Hans Lombard, a GM expert, said on July 24 the potato will especially help small farmers in Africa to reduce costs. Large-scale farmers and firms do not normally have to fight tuber moths, because potatoes are processed quickly.

IOL

Tuber moth damage is an infestation which was estimated to cause some R40-million ($5.3 million) in potato yield losses a year.

The ARC would now apply to the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and relevant authorities for a safety assessment, and general release of the SpuntaG2 potato, which would allow the council to initiate farmer participatory pilot trials under unconfined conditions.

Important to note is that this is a publicly-led (not-for-profit) initiative under the DoA, and the ARC, and seed potatoes would not be distributed by seed companies at a premium. In fact, the GM potatoes would be the first GM product that is not sold at a premium in South Africa. The SpuntaG2 potatoes were developed in collaboration with the Michigan State University in the US.

If and when the general release was obtained, the council would also then develop a certification and labelling system to prepare for commercial release of improved or modified potato varieties. The timeline and trials still to be conducted, meant that biotechnologically enhanced potatoes would not be on the market before 2011.

Biotechnology association AfricaBio explained that this insect resistant potato project has been developed mainly for small-scale farmers (and not for export), who are most affected by moth infestation as they cannot afford to spray crops, or cover the costs of cold storage of crops.

“As a major staple crop, the development of a GM potato is a boon to the smallholder farmer, to help ensure food security and alleviate hunger,” added AfricaBio executive director Jocelyn Webster.

Although the Spunta variety potato is not the preferred commercial variety, if the regulators and smallholder farmers are satisfied with SpuntG2 results, the ARC could transfer potato tuber moth resistance to other preferred varieties. “This is already in the pipeline,” stated ARC researcher Dr. Kobie de Ronde.

The SpuntaG2 has shown complete protection against the tuber moth during its six years of testing in six major potato-growing areas under confined conditions in South Africa. The studies were carried out with permission from national regulators and included measures to control pollen and potatoes at the trial sites. Environmental studies also showed that the SpuntaG2 controlled the potato tuber moth without affecting other organisms.

Potato tuber moths lay eggs on the plant surface, and their larvae burrow into the potatoes causing considerable damage. The moths affect the crop in the field, and often times more considerably when potatoes are in storage, if cold storage facilities are not available.

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