A Review of Potato Seed Systems and Germplasm Conservation in Kenya

Muthoni, Jane; Mbiyu, M.; Nyamongo, D. O.

doi:10.1080/10496501003680565

Cited by 40 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is a major food staple and food security crop, and a major source of livelihood, for smallholder households in the tropical highlands of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Haverkort and Struik 2015). More recently, potato has played a major role, in its producing areas, of relieving pressure on cereals caused by recent episodes of world food price increases (Muthoni et al 2010). These episodes of food price increases/inflation date back to 2007/08, when prices of major cereals, the main food staples in most countries of SSA, increased sharply.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations and Mental Models Associated with Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technology: Evidence from Use of Quality Seed Potato in Kenya

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Potato is a major food staple that makes a significant contribution to food security, having potential to smooth the volatility in food prices resulting from recent episodes of global food price increases. Despite its importance, most potato growers continue to use poor-quality seed, normally obtained from local/community sources. This study uses means-end chain theory to examine the drivers of use of quality seed potato, and the mental models associated with quality seed potato use. It finds that the decision to purchase and use quality seed is driven by deep-seated life goals that farmers pursue, and that profit-making is merely a means to these end/ life goals. It further finds that the structure of mental models differs by the gender of the adopter and between adopters and nonadopters. The study concludes that the structure and content of farmers' mental models differ by farmer type. The implications of the study findings for policy are discussed.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivations and Mental Models Associated with Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technology: Evidence from Use of Quality Seed Potato in Kenya

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies by [9] and [10] revealed bacterial wilt as the major disease leading to yield reduction in all potato growing areas in Kenya. In addition, [35] and [38] reported bacterial wilt and potato late blight occurrence to be over 70% and 67% respectively in Kenyan farms leading to high yield losses. In addition, [5] reported a comparatively lower (74%) prevalence of bacterial wilt in Kenya than reported on this study.…”

Section: Seed Potato Production Practices By Small-scale Farmersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results corresponds to the findings by [4,5] who reported that the informal seed system is the main means of seed acquisition in Eastern Africa and over 98% of the farmers used seed potato either from either own fields, neighbours and local markets. In addition, [18] and [35] reported that less than 5% of farmers in Eastern Africa used certified seed potato. Reasons for low usage of certified seed were attributed to inadequate and poor supply, high certified seed prices, inadequate availability of varieties preferred by farmers and lack of knowledge on importance of use of quality seed potato [9,35].…”

Section: Seed Potato Production Practices By Small-scale Farmersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, [18] and [35] reported that less than 5% of farmers in Eastern Africa used certified seed potato. Reasons for low usage of certified seed were attributed to inadequate and poor supply, high certified seed prices, inadequate availability of varieties preferred by farmers and lack of knowledge on importance of use of quality seed potato [9,35]. The bulkiness of seed potato being vegetatively propagated and centralized production are among key factors limiting adequate seed supply in Kenya forcing farmers to use informal seed supply means [36].…”

Section: Seed Potato Production Practices By Small-scale Farmersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Seed Potato Production Practices and Quality of Farm Saved Seed Potato in Kiambu and Nyandarua Counties in Kenya

Mumia¹,

Muthomi²,

Narla³

et al. 2018

WJAR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Potato production in Kenya is mainly constrained by limited supply of quality seed potato tubers. The objective of this study was to determine seed potato handling practices and quality of farm saved seed potato. A survey involving 79 farmers was conducted in potato production areas in Kiambu and Nyandarua Counties to collect information on seed potato production practices including sources of seed tubers, seed selection, seed tuber storage, pests and diseases. Samples of seed potato were collected from farmers and evaluated for quality parameters such as tuber size, weight, stout sprout length and infection with diseases. Factors affecting potato production included limited quality seed supply, pests and diseases. Shangi was the main potato variety grown by majority (62.8%) of farmers and all the farmers used own farm saved seed. Most (45.5%) farmers recycled the seed for four seasons and 44.1% of farmers stored seed potato for three months. Freeness from seedborne diseases was the main seed quality preference by farmers. The main pest reported was cutworms (42.6% of farmers) while potato late blight and bacterial wilt were the major diseases reported by 87.1% and 86.7% of the farmers respectively. All farm saved seed potato samples were infected with Fusarium coeruleum, 51.2% with Rhizoctonia solani, 53.3% with Fusarium sambunicum, 33.3% with Fusarium solani and 48.3% with Aspergillus niger. Over 69% of the farm saved seed samples were infected with Ralstonia solanacearum while 40.1% were infected with Potato Virus S, the most dominant. Due to poor post-harvest handling practices, farmers incurred seed quality and quantity losses in storage. Farm saved seed is contaminated with multiple seed borne diseases. Farmers should be sensitized on appropriate seed potato handling practices and there should be increased supply of certified seed potato.

show abstract

“…Most of these farmers depend on rainfall to produce their crops. Yields are low [4.4 to 10 t ha-1 with an average of 7.7 t ha-1 (MoA, 2008;Muthoni et al, 2010; Janssen et al, 2013)]. Low yields are mainly due to use of poor quality seed potato, low soil fertility, low and erratic rainfall, pests and diseases (Janssen et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of Two Potato Cultivars Derived from In-vitro Plantlets, Mini-tubers and Stem Cuttings Using Aeroponics Technique

Muthoni¹,

Mbiyu²,

Lung’aho³

et al. 2017

ijh

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An experiment was conducted at KALRO-Tigoni to assess the effect of starter plant material (in-vitro plantlets, stem cuttings and minitubers) on minituber production of two potato cultivars Asante and Tigoni under aeroponic conditions. The experiment was set up in the aeroponic unit at KALRO-Tigoni in randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Data were collected at each harvest on the number of minitubers produced per plant; the minitubers were later graded into three weights (0.1-5g, 5.1-12g, >12g). Cultivar Tigoni produced a higher total number of minitubers (49.96) and (52.67) compared to Asante which produced (39.63) and (46.39) minitubers in season one and two respectively. Additionally, in-vitro propagation materials gave the highest number of minitubers (56.44 and 62.94) compared to stem cuttings (43.53 and 51.44) and minitubers (34.42 and 34.19) during the two seasons respectively. The results of this study suggest that the starter materials have a significant effect on the number of potato minitubers produced under the aeroponic system regardless of the potato cultivar. Use of in-vitro plantlets as starter material optimizes minituber production in the aeroponic system. However, the study should be repeated so as to come up with concrete results.Keywords Aeroponics Asante; Potato minitubers; Starter material; Tigoni BackgroundIn Kenya potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the second most important staple crop after maize and plays a major role in national food and nutritional security (Janssen et al., 2013). Potato is grown by about 800,000 farmers cultivating about 161, 000 hectares per season with an annual production of about 3 million tonnes in two growing seasons (GTZ-PSDA, 2011;MoALF, 2016). The annual potato crop is valued at KSh. 50 billion (USD 500 million) at farm gate prices (GTZ-PSDA, 2011;MoALF, 2016). Beyond the farm, the industry employs about 3.3 million people as market agents, transporters, processors, vendors and exporters (ANN, 2009;MoALF, 2016). In addition potato is a vital source of calories, proteins, vitamins, potassium and fiber.Most potato producers are small scale famers; it is estimated that 90% of them own less than 1 ha (Janssen et al., 2013). Most of these farmers depend on rainfall to produce their crops. Yields are low [4.4 to 10 t ha-1 with an average of 7.7 t ha-1 (MoA, 2008;Muthoni et al., 2010; Janssen et al., 2013)]. Low yields are mainly due to use of poor quality seed potato, low soil fertility, low and erratic rainfall, pests and diseases (Janssen et al., 2013). Certified seed potato is expensive (about US$ 30 for a 50 kg bag) yet one requires 16 such bags to plant one acre. In addition, certified seeds are scarce; certified seed potato producers supply less than 5% of the national demand. Consequently, most farmers plant seed tubers from informal sources such as own harvests, neighbours and local markets with own harvests being the major source of seed for most farmers. Continuous cultivation of these farm-saved seeds encourages build...

show abstract

A Review of Potato Seed Systems and Germplasm Conservation in Kenya

Cited by 40 publications

References 1 publication

Motivations and Mental Models Associated with Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technology: Evidence from Use of Quality Seed Potato in Kenya

Motivations and Mental Models Associated with Smallholder Farmers’ Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technology: Evidence from Use of Quality Seed Potato in Kenya

Seed Potato Production Practices and Quality of Farm Saved Seed Potato in Kiambu and Nyandarua Counties in Kenya

Performance of Two Potato Cultivars Derived from In-vitro Plantlets, Mini-tubers and Stem Cuttings Using Aeroponics Technique

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About