Second Bread: Potato Cultivation and Food Security in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan experienced a remarkable boom in potato production over the past thirty years, driven almost entirely by small farms. Today, potatoes are at once the backbone of national food security, a central source of income for many Kyrgyz households, and a non-trivial source of export earnings.
Last year “Agrolead”LLC Агролид - Cельскохозяйственная консультационная компания began implementing a project to develop a value chain for seed potatoes in the Naryn region within the framework of the GOPA-AFC project “Agrofinancing of value chains” in Kyrgyzstan. The goal of the project is to develop the value chain for seed potatoes, improve the quality of seed material and provide farmers with access to quality seeds.
“Agrolead” held negotiations with the Dutch company “HZPC” about the possibility of growing elite class seed potatoes in Kyrgyzstan. As a result of the negotiations, it was decided to test the cultivation of super-elite class seeds in Kyrgyzstan in the mountainous regions of Naryn province.
As part of this project, super elite class seeds of 5 varieties were imported: Camellia, Colombo, Silvana, Perdiz, Challenger from the Dutch company HZPC.
On May 12, 2024, the seeds of the super elite were sowed in the At-Bashinsky district of the Naryn region with the participation of interested farmers, local authorities and project representatives. The super-elite class seeds were grown in compliance with all the necessary seed cultivation agrotechnology, including such aspects as crop rotation, drip irrigation system, etc.
In 2025 it is planned to import super-super-elite class seeds, thus, for the first time in the history of Kyrgyzstan, it is planned to grow super-super elite class seeds.
To ensure high seed quality, at this stage, all work is underway to implement an internal quality control system. As a basis, the NAK system is taken, which is successfully operating in the Netherlands.
P.S. Agrolead LLC is a leading consulting organization in the field of agriculture, helping to improve the economic situation of agribusiness participants through the construction and development of the Value Added Chain (VAC), according to the approaches of the green economy and adaptation to climate change. Highly professional specialists with more than 10 years of experience in the agricultural sector who are always ready to assist in local development through the provision of consulting, educational, research and marketing services.
Source: www.agrolead.org
