Why Irish potatoes’ price has shot through the roof

While releasing the consumer price index (CPI) for May, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) indicated that the annual food crops and related items inflation had dropped to 15.7 percent from 25.3 percent registered in April.

Drops were registered across Ubos’ basket of goods that includes tomatoes (-26.2 percent from 26.3 percent), bananas (46.3 percent from 62.9 percent), sweet potatoes (15.9 percent from 34.8 percent), beans (40.1 percent from 45.1 percent), and passion fruits (5.32 percent from 12.6 percent).

The basket of goods doesn’t include Irish potatoes that have continued to be stubbornly expensive. The growing scarcity of the starchy plant tuber in bastions like Kigezi Sub-region has seen its price shoot up exponentially. Things have never been the same since some farmers in the sub-region stopped growing Irish potatoes during the two years of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the traders, farmers and extension workers in Kigezi Sub-region, the price of a 120kg bag of ware Irish potatoes has doubled from Shs120,000 in March of 2022 to Shs240,000 in April of 2023. A basin or tin of Irish potatoes that used to go for Shs20,000 now costs Shs35,000.

“We attribute the increased prices for the ware potatoes in this year to its scarcity,” Mr Solomon Basaza, the Kisoro District agricultural officer, said. “The fact is that majority farmers stopped growing it during the Covid-19 lockdown because the prices were low, besides lack of stable markets.”

Steep costs
Mr Fedil Kamali, the Kisoro District Irish Potato Farmers’ Association chairperson, told Monitor that it has not helped matters that the cost of clean Irish potato seeds has substantially increased. Such increments in the general cost of production has made Irish potato growing less attractive.

“Last year in April, the price of a bag of seed potatoes was at Shs300,000, but now it has increased to Shs500,000. A 50kg bag of fertiliser, which was being sold at Shs100,000 during the same period, is now at Shs190,000,” Mr Kamali revealed, adding, “The cost of hiring an acre of land for one season, that was at Shs700,000, is now at Shs1 million. It is our appeal that the government intervenes by giving Irish potato farmers subsidies such as donating to them clean potato seeds and fertilisers so as to stabilise the market and revive massive production.”

Mr Kamali said for generations, Irish potatoes have been the main food and cash crop for the people of Kigezi Sub-region. This is especially so for the residents in the districts of Kisoro, Rubanda, Kabale, and parts of Rukiga. The increased costs of production of the tuber, he adds, may lead to food insecurity in the sub-region if it’s not checked early enough.

Mr John Karugaba, the chairperson of seed potato producers in Rubanda District, said the price of seed potato has always been high because of the technologies involved in making it. He further noted that any slight increase in seed potato prices affects the price of the ware potato because farmers must make profits.

He said during the Covid-19 lockdown there were attempts to give free seed potato to farmers. Majority of the farmers, however, turned down the offer, reasoning that there was no market for Irish potatoes. They also expressed their fears about overhead costs that were involved in buying herbicides to control pests and diseases.

Limited arable land
Ms Miria Tugume, the Kabale District vice chairperson, also an Irish potato farmer, attributed the reduced production of Irish potatoes in the area to limited arable land. The fact that the vast majority of the farmers who used wetlands as their crop gardens were evicted by the government has not helped matters. Government functionaries said the move was undertaken to restore the degraded wetlands countrywide. 

Ms Tugume also attributed the low production of Irish potato to increased pests and diseases that have become resistant to the pesticides and herbicides on the market.

PCN pests
In April, agricultural stakeholders in the Kigezi Sub-region—in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), National Agriculture Research Organisation and other partners—launched an awareness campaign against the Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN), a deadly pest of potatoes in Uganda.

Speaking at Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Rubanda District during the Competitive Grant Scheme Potato cyst nematode awareness sensitisation workshop, Mr Isaac Wamatsembe— the senior crop inspector at MAAIF—said a study conducted in 2019 to establish the status of potato pests and diseases in north eastern and south western Uganda confirmed the presence of the PCN pests. The government, he added, has since embarked on sensitising farmers about the PCN pests. Farmers have also been warned against the importation of seed potato from the neighbouring countries until the pests are fully controlled.

“The potato cyst nematode when, it has just gotten into the field, you may not be in position to tell the damage, but once it spreads to the whole field, you can lose up to 100 percent of your crop. Potato cyst nematode is mainly for Irish potatoes and they move on the seed potato in most cases,” Mr Wamatsembe revealed, adding, “A study has been done by the National Agricultural Research Organisation and all the districts in Kigezi have been confirmed to be having the potato cyst nematode. Although it’s still in small numbers, if it is not controlled early enough, may result in a big problem.”