DAVAO CITY — The farmers of barangay Kapatagan in Digos City and Managa in Bansalan town in Davao del Sur are expecting to produce best quality potato after the Department of Agriculture XI (DA-XI) provided them with high-quality imported Granola potato seed variety from Prince Edward Island in Canada, source of one of the best potato seeds in the world.
The DA XI collaborated with the country’s leading potato chips manufacturing, the Universal Robina Corporation (URC), to address one of the major constraints in potato farming–access to quality potato seeds.
Melani A. Provido the focal person of the agency said some 66 potato farmers from Gagpang Alegre Potato Small Farmers Association received three (3) bags each of potato having 250-260 tubers per bag; 40 farmer-beneficiaries from Managa with 9 bags per farmer; and, 25 farmer-beneficiaries from Highland Farmers Agri Cooperative of Kapatagan, Digos with 13 bags each, it was the third batch of potato seeds since the Sustainable Potato Program (SPP) started in 2019.
Under this program, URC provides high-quality potato seeds and trainings, research and development while DA-11 facilitates the identification of farmer-beneficiaries and monitors on the impact of the SPP to the farming community.
Provido said that the program adopts a holistic approach that is sustainable, science-based and market-oriented.
“Farmers are trained on good agricultural practices in potato farming to increase yield and improve the quality of their produce. URC will also help in linking them to the market,” she added.
Davao region ranks second among the top potato-producing areas in the country with Benguet and Bukidnon Province, chosen as pilot areas for the SPP.
Ken Oliver Dungo, the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) SPP project support officer said that more farmers are now interested with Granola potato seeds after the harvest result of the first farmer-beneficiaries.
“Based on the harvest results of our farmer-beneficiaries, a Granola potato seed variety tuber can produce up to one kilogram of potatoes which is way better than their native variety or home-saved seeds,” said Dungo.
He added that these imported potato seeds are laboratory-tested and are not susceptible to pests and diseases. For a hectare of land, a farmer needs 45,000 to 50,000 tubers mam per hectare for commercial production. Potatoes are best produced in elevated areas with at least 1,000 above sea level.-
