introduction to potato crop

THE POTATO CROPDieudonné Harahagazwe

Kadahenda, April 28, 2016

Integrated Potato Crop Management Course

Outline

�Potato history

�Gene bank and diversity

�Importance of potato crop

�Crop growth and development

�Potato production factors

�Yield gap

�Take-away message

I. POTATO HISTORY

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Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

Indian Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Antarctic Circle

Arctic Circle

Osaka Tokyo

Delhi

Paris

Cairo

London

Taipei

Moskva

Manila

Tehran

Bombay

Berlin

Chicago

Bangkok

Karachi

Jakarta

BeijingNew York Istanbul

Calcutta

Shanghai

Hong Kong

Sao Paulo

Los Angeles

Mexico City

Philadelphia

Buenos Aires

Rio de Janeiro

Saint Petersburg

16th

century

LakeTiticaca

Potato

origin

20th

Century

II. GENEBANK (CIP – Lima, Peru)

• The world’s largest in vitro genebank which maintains

clonal and seed collections for over 100 years.

• Over 21,000 accessions of potato, sweetpotato, and

Andean root and tuber crops

Diversity of potato tubers

III. IMPORTANCE OF POTATOES

• Third important food crop in the world

(380 million t/ 19 million ha in 2014 -

FAOSTAT)

• High yielding ability (100 t/ha)

• One of the major cash crops in SSA,

including Rwanda

Top 10 Potato Production countries in

Africa (FAOSTAT)

Rank Country

1 Egypt

2 Algeria

3 Kenya

4 South Africa

5 Rwanda

6 Morocco

7 United Republic of Tanzania

8 Nigeria

9 Angola

10 Ethiopia

Nutritional values of potatoes

Fast food at Mombo, Tanzania

One medium size tuber (150 g) may

contain:

• Potassium : 620 mg – more than a

banana

• Vitamin C: 45% of daily requirement for a

man

• Dietary Fiber : 13% of daily requirement

for a man

• Healthy food: Lack of fat, sodium and

cholesterol (major heath problems)

10

IV. CROP GROWTH AND

DEVELOPEMENT

Solar

Radiat

ion

Temperature

Water

CO2

Light interception and

utilization

Importance of canopy cover for plant – light

interactions: Example of tea plantation vs tea

factory (Kadahenda, Rwanda)

Growth Cycle in 4 phases

Phase 1

Planting Germination

Germination Tuber initiation

Phase 2

Tuber initiation End of leaf growth

Phase 3

End of leaf growth Plant death

Phase 4

(t/ha)

Time

(days) 30 45 80 120

1 2 3 4

90 DAP

40

30

Leaves

Tubers

The 4 potato phases in a graph

DAP are indicative

Yield

18

Why potato is tuber and NOT root

crop? …..because of STOLONS!

19

Role of stems in potato productivity: stolons are formed

from stems

Group 1: Defining Factors

• CO2

• Radiation

• Temperature

• Plant characteristics

�POTENTIAL YIELD

(ex. 60 t/ha)

V. POTATO PRODUCTION FACTORS

Group 2: Limiting Factors

– Water

– Nutrients (N-P-K mainly)

Defining Factors

+

Limiting Factors

ATTAINABLE YIELD

(ex. 45 t/ha)

Group 3: Reducing Factors

– Weeds

– Pests

– Diseases

– Pollutants

Defining Factors

+

Limiting Factors

+

Reducing Factors

ACTUAL YIELD

(ex. 5 t/ha)

VI. YIELD GAP

• Yield Gap (Yg) = Potential Yield (Yp) –

Actual Yield (Ya)

• Yg is extremely high in SSA compared to

developed countries

• Yg can be significantly reduced by

addressing identified gap drivers

VII. TAKE-AWAY MESSAGE

� Clean seed

� Fertilizers

� Chemicals (pests and diseases control)

3 entry points for a successful

productivity:

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Humidtropics and the CGIAR Fund Donors

for their provision of core and project-specific funding without which this

research could not deliver results that eventually positively impact the lives

of millions of smallholder farmers in tropical Americas, Asia and Africa.

This presentation was made at a training workshop on Integrated Potato Crop

Management organized by the International Potato Center (CIP) for Innovation

Platform (IP) members of Kadahenda, Rwanda.

MURAKOZE

Contact: dharahagazwe@yahoo.fr