Big push to increase potato production in OR Tambo
District spends R10bn sourcing from other regions and provinces
A total of R10bn leaves the OR Tambo district every year as more than 95% of potato consumed in the district are sourced from other regions and provinces, with only 5% produced locally.
This was revealed when Eastern Cape Development Cooperation (ECDC) chief executive Ndzondelelo Dlulane and OR Tambo mayor Nomakhosazana Meth addressed potato farmers, mentors and government officials during the Potato Farmers Day function at the Kei Fresh Market in Mthatha on Friday. Farmers showcased their potato products and shared ideas on how to improve potato production in the Eastern Cape.
Meth and Dlulane said something urgently needed to be done to ensure the vast track of land with good climate are tilled to address the high demand of potatoes in the district.
“Potatoes are the most consumed product in the OR Tambo district but only 5% of potato is produced locally.
An estimate of R10bn leaves the region every year because over 95% of consumed potato is from outside the borders of the district,” Dlulane said.
He said 55% of potatoes consumed in OR Tambo is sourced from neighbouring districts of Joe Gqabi and Kokstad/Underberg, and 40% from Gauteng, Northern Cape, Free State and the Western Cape provinces.
“For the period January 2018 to March 2019, Kei Fresh Produce Market received 1,245 tons of potatoes.
Of this amount, only 142 tons is from OR Tambo farmers.
We need to reverse these figures and get to a situation where OR Tambo produces the majority of its potatoes in the region,” said Dlulane.
ECDC administers the Imvaba Co-operative Fund which allocated a R3.357-million incentive to seven co-operatives in an effort to boost potato production in the OR Tambo district municipal area.
“The incentive has been spread over a three-year period and it is being used to buy fertilisers, seeds and pesticides and for the hiring of production equipment for the co-operatives.
“Support for the potato industry is meant to boost local production and the regional economy,” Dlulane said.
He said that already the support of funding cooperatives was bearing fruit boosting potato production as some cooperatives were now producing almost 20,000 bags per harvest.
“The Vukamntomtsha Agricultural Co-operative at KwaLink village 15km west of Mthatha has improved potato production to 18,000 bags in its 2019 harvest because of the incentive as well as technical and market access support provided by Potato South Africa (PSA) and the Ntinga OR Tambo Development Agency, (Ntinga) and Kei Fresh Produce Market (KFPM), respectively,” he said.
Ntinga board chair Sitembele Mase said the establishment of the KFPM provided a lucrative market access platform for emerging potato producers in the district.
Meth said she was pleased to see the initiative to work the land had produced more potatoes for the district and urged farmers to conduct large-scale farming on potato farming.
“All the ex-miners must come together to form co-operatives and plant more potatoes to change the situation so that we can be exporters of potato and become the food basket in the continent,” said Meth.
Support for the industry is meant to boost local produce and the regional economy