‘Irish’ potatoes – home-grown on a massive scale
…Guyana can save millions and earn foreign $$
[Photos by Samuel Maughn]
WITH A newly-discovered potential of harvesting potatoes on the coastal plains of Guyana,
the country can save the over US$4 million it invests annually in the importation of potatoes and earn millions through the export market if ‘Irish’ potatoes become home-grown on a massive scale.
The World University Service of Canada (WUSC)/Promotion of Regional Opportunities for Produce through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL) have facilitated the project of harvesting potatoes and onions in Guyana through the establishment of Farmer Field Schools, as part of a Canadian Government fund to the amount of CAD$100 million.
WUSC Caribbean/PROPEL and the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) have collaborated to push for crop diversification, the introduction of new crops and the production of non-traditional crops within Guyana’s agricultural sector, WUSC Caribbean executive Johanna Robertson said.
She was speaking to a gathering of farmers, PROPEL/WUSC staff and the media who visited the farm of Mr. Bhagwan Persaud at Little Biaboo, Upper Mahaica River, Region 5 Thursday, when the first crop of six varieties of Irish potatoes, a major import product, was successfully harvested on the coastal plain of Guyana.
Smiles were on the faces of Mr. Persaud and other farmers as they reaped the potatoes and packed them carefully in green mesh bags loading them in a canoe and a white cruiser truck, some miles into the area dominated by rich vegetation.
Robertson pointed to statistics which showed that Guyana is a major importer of potatoes and in 2016 alone the country imported 10 million kilograms of potatoes at a cost of US$4M.
The first successful potato farmer on the coast, Persaud was both surprised and filled with joy that the first harvest was a great success.
“I feel good, I feel proud. And I must say thanks to PROPEL for encouraging me ,”he told Sunday Pepperpot in an interview.
PROPEL pushed him into harvesting the product. He said they visited the area where they worked with a group of farmers, and threw the challenge out. He was the only farmer who boldly accepted and the organization invested some $250,000 into the project and a Field 
School was established on his farm utilizing less than a quarter of an acre for the new production.
“We have a group that works with PROPEL. They asked who were interested in potatoes and onions and just me alone put my hand up. It was a good experience, because I am a farmer throughout my life and I never grow potato. I never see how potatoes grow. I never heard that anybody grow it in my career. But there is always a first time, so I say I will go with that.”
Persaud was guided by PROPEL professionals and got started by clearing the plot of bushes and grass, before preparing the soil.
“When I finish ploughing it, they give me some lime stone. I shy it then they plough it back and mix the lime stone into the earth. That does cut out the sour from the soil,” he explained.
Drains were made in the midst of the potato beds to separate the land into several smaller banks.
“Then you put down the alu (potato) inside and yuh cover down the alu about four inches in the earth,” he said.
He maintained the product, watering it and cleaning the bed for 90 to 100 days, giving the plants water only thrice weekly while they were yet young. But as the time grew closer to harvesting more water was added.
It was easy and he got some help from several members of the PROPEL group in planting the potatoes, while he and his son maintained the crop throughout until harvesting, when additional hands were added.
A few mistakes were made or production would have been greater, but Bhagwan Persaud said next time, there will be no making of mistakes as he was preparing to plant again on a larger scale, with PROPEL on his side to ensure the availability of adequate market.
“One of the major mistakes that I made here was that I plant it too close, so I didn’t get the amount of earth to mold it up. More you mold it up the more bearing yuh going to get. When fuh give them the amount of water I didn’t know the amount of water to give it. I get the experience from this here now fuh know about the amount of water required,” he posited.
“It was a joy sowing and reaping ‘Irish’ potatoes he said. “I would advise farmers to grow it.”
Weighing the potential the local market alone has, he is willing to go the extra mile and invest big, even as he continues producing his traditional farm produce of a variety of locally grown vegetables. He is also willing to try his hands at other non-traditional products.
“I travel around Guyana here… people eating potato plenty in Guyana here, so I think we have the market fuh when we produce it, and it’s not expensive to grow. I will go more large this coming crop. I have some (seeds) for sale and some which I will reuse. I willing to try 
(other products). I was asking them to do garlic. Now you looking at the internet you see how garlic grows. Putting it in the soil and maintaining it, I want that experience also,” the farmer said.
Deputy Project Director of WUSC Caribbean Munish Persaud said conversations on the harvesting of Irish potato and onions began four years ago, and the project has already achieved a few success stories. With market analysis and a few other connections in place, accomplishments can become unlimited.
He recalled that during the 1970s Guyana’s potential was already recognized and Irish potatoes were successfully harvested in the Pakaraima mountain in Essequibo. Transportation of the products from the mountains, however, was quite costly and so the project became too expensive to maintain.
Attempts were again made in recent years to grow potatoes on the coast but proved unsuccessful.
He said potatoes can contribute significantly to food security and on Guyana’s coast a few farmers are hoping to up production.
A taste-testing event will be staged in two weeks at the Pegasus Hotel and Persaud said one can guarantee that the locally-grown potatoes will have a sweeter taste.
“It has now been proven that potatoes can be grown on the coast of Guyana and taste even better.” he said during a simple ceremony on the farm.
Persaud said sometime back, the late Minister of Agriculture Satyadeow Sawh aggressively campaigned for the growing of non-traditional crops and PROPEL in response did an analysis of non-traditional crops which they wanted to have farmers produce in Guyana.
They were looking at products Guyanese import on a large scale and identified onions and potatoes.
“PROPEL is taking a market systems approach involving input suppliers and developing a network of actors to make it possible,” the Deputy Director said.
The organization is collaborating with several market actors including buyers, producers, input suppliers, research institutes, extension service providers and government to connect buyers from the Caribbean and beyond with local producers and ensuring products under their watch meet high value market standards as well as meet those markets.
Input Supplier of the project Beaufort Adams of BLT hailed the success of the project and is calling on more farmers to develop an interest in harvesting ‘Irish’ potatoes.
He said too that the potato being a non-traditional product and new to farms in Guyana, farmers needed to be educated on the products, its needs and the soil preparation and nutrients needed for its production.
“Now that we know that we could do it here right we need more farmers to be interested in planting the potatoes. Once we can have an organized setting, we could do a lot more in making the production of potatoes in Guyana a real success,” Adams told Sunday Chronicle in an interview.
He said the loam or loose soil is the best for such farming and such soil needs can be constructed with the right technology and soil nutrients.
“The best soil you have is the loam, the loose soil, potato needs loose soil. And apart from having the loose soil which you could make actually, you need to know the nutrients of the soil, you need to know what potato needs and then you need to know what nutrients exactly the soil has that you’re going to plant the potato on, and then you tailor the soil to suit the needs of the potato. That’s basically how you become a successful farmer,” Adams explained.
Meanwhile, Field Manager of the WUSC Farmer Field School, Jason Persaud, said although potato has been known to attract pests and diseases, it is remarkable that throughout the ten weeks of sowing, there has only been a minor presence of late blight but no major pests present in the field at Little Biaboo.
