Potato harvest underway at Sikondo Green Scheme - nbc скачать в хорошем качестве

Potato harvest underway at Sikondo Green Scheme - nbc

It is potato harvesting season at Sikondo Green Scheme in Kavango West, and the acting farm manager said they are expecting a large harvest. Let's have a look. When the NBC News team arrived at the farm, workers were seen sorting, cleaning and packaging spuds of various sizes, preparing them for the market. The potato harvest started about a month ago and will continue for the next three weeks. Acting Farm Manager Maxwell Nghidinwa is estimating a bumper harvest of about forty to fifty tonnes per hectare, an improvement from last year's thirty tonnes per hectare, and he says they are more than ready to cater to their loyal clients. "End customers, vendors, service stations, you have lodges and also wholesalers. We have had big interest from various agents or players in the value chain, but the majority of them are vendors. I don't know if you saw our truck; it's going to Okongo, so we are also distributing in different towns." Nghidinua said the price of potatoes in retail stores has dropped as a result of their supplying the market, making the vendors happy. The potatoes come in large and medium, which are the premium product preferred by most customers; small, which is popular with the informal market; and, of course, the baby potatoes. Sikondo has been growing this potato for over ten years, and Nghidinwa said the demand shows the country can grow its own food. "Our President is passionate about the agricultural sector, and that is what the agri sector needs right now. We need conviction from our leaders to understand that these are hard times. Our people are suffering, and we need to produce food to bring down the cost of food for our people." Apart from Sikondo, there is one other location producing potatoes in Kavango West. "Our neighbour is the Musese Green Scheme. They are also producing potatoes at Kanyikama, which is great. The one who wins is the end consumer," said Nghidinwa, emphasising that more produce is good for the nation. "We don't really complain; it helps us to ensure that our products are of higher quality." Nghidinwa believes that the potato market is not very well coordinated, saying there are still regions that are unaware of the fact that potatoes are being farmed in Kavango West and Oshikoto. "I think there is room to digitise information to mainstream some of this information so it is more accessible so that we distribute more efficiently to the regions that need this food." #NBCNews #nbcdigitalnews #nbcDSTV282 #nbcGOtv20 #nbcPlusApp