Analysis of Production and Use of Clean Seed Potato among Smallholder Farmers in Nakuru County, Kenya

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) productivity is very low in Kenya, at 10MT/ha as compared to 20 MT/ha and 40MT/ha obtained in Egypt and Netherlands respectively. This gap is partly due to usage of poor quality seed potato. A survey was carried out in Nakuru in 2017 and one of its objectives was to establish and analyse the production and usage of clean seed potatoes especially among the smallholder potato farmers. Data was collected from 175 respondents using a structured questionnaire in a cross sectional study and analyzed descriptively. Results revealed that only 12 percent of the respondents used certified seed potato, 18.9 percent used clean seed while 65.1 percent used farmer saved seed potatoes. Seed potato production was very low because only 18.9 percent of the respondents grew seed potato. This reduces the yield quantity and quality, which negatively affects incomes and food security of the farmers.