Farm Tales
Irish potato sampling before harvest!!☘️🥔🍟
This is me and a farm manager, inside Mau-Narok Forest sampling potatoes.
The farmer want the potatoes harvested the next day. But I want the potatoes in two weeks time. #potatoharvesting
I get to the farm and my first observation is that the farm is still green, although the farmer argues the potatoes have reached maturity.
Why would I be concerned about the farm being green?
1️⃣Well, it would mean that the tuber skin are not well hardened, making them prone to external injury and bruises , and if harvested, they would easily be pricked by pests.
2️⃣Additionally, the dry matter content of the potatoes may not have reached maximum period. This the potatoes if processed, would mean taking longer to dry, or fry etc.
3️⃣The storage of search potatoes would be a very delicate activity, especially if we have rotten or cuts.
4️⃣A very serious sorting and grading procedure would need to take place, to ensure, there are zero chances of mixing them with good quality tubers. #postharvestlosses
As an Agronomist I take it to my hands to inform the farmer, why they need to dehaulm the farm before harvest. #capacitybiulding
As a buyer:
I need to send a sample to Nairobi for quality assessment. The formal and informal market works differently.
Eg. We have to try and process the crisping variety and see how the final product will be. All this is new to the farmer.#quality #potatoes
The owner of the farm is a high school principal. He is influential in the society.
I try and get his farm records. Which obviously, can't be produced. #farming
We talk about prices, and he agrees that if I want to take the potatoes in two weeks time, I should give a price that will not change even if the market price changes. Anyway, we don't agree but in business everyone has to win.
Mzizi CropSoko Technologies Limited
#marketflactuation #informalmarket #formalmarket #potatoprices
bon variété