The Sikondo Green Scheme's decision to experiment with the Valour variety of potato this year was not as successful as anticipated.
Acting Farm Manager Maxwell Nghidinwa says that after years of success with the Mondial potato, the Valour potato failed, as it produced smaller potatoes than previously harvested.
This year, the Sikondo Green Scheme in the Kavango West Region decided to plant a different variety on ten hectares of land as an experiment.
The idea was to find a potato that can do very well in the summer season.
"The harvest is not too bad, but I would not say it's better than the previous one, which was in July, because that had cooler conditions, which are quite favourable for potatoes. This time, we have more mediums and more small. So we saw that this variety does well more in loamy and clay soils, but not in sandy soils," said Nghidinua.
After the experiment, Nghidinwa said the farm has decided to stick to what actually works.
"For now, we'll focus more on Mondial, and I think we can also look into another variety, Sifra, which has performed quite well in the past. Last season's potatoes were actually quite outstanding, and so this was like a bit of a step back. So we want to really keep pushing the standard in terms of our yields and in terms of our revenues when it comes to this high-value crop."
Even though the Valour potato came in smaller sizes, the green scheme still managed to sell their yield during the festive season, with trucks going to Okongo and Eenhana, among other places.
"If we have to put it in percentage, we'll say 60% is small, and then you have about 30% medium and then 30% large and extra-large. Whereas in the last season we had about 60% large, 40% medium, and then 10% probably small and baby small. Would you be able to recover what you guys put in? Yes, I think we can break even, slightly break even, and maybe if we are lucky, just get over the border of break even, so make a bit of money."
Harvesting came to an end in December, and the next potato planting season will take place in February next year.
The farm manager is, however, calling on farmers who are interested in planting potatoes to knock on the green scheme's door for any assistance.
"Sikondo is here. If farmers need technical assistance, it's part of our social responsibility. The green schemes cannot feed our nation alone, and we cannot obviously hold on to some of this technical information. So farmers are welcome, those who want to really venture into agriculture, especially potato production, to come and consult us to see how we can help them."