Lack of subsidies on agro-chemicals and seeds weighs down potato farmers

Smallholder farmers growing Irish Potatoes in the Northern and Western regions have requested the government to extend subsidies on agro-chemicals and seeds that are often available at high prices to allow them make profits from the investment. The Northern volcanic region accounts for more than 80 per cent of national potato production and 60 per cent of the production is used directly for home consumption in this region. Rwanda produced 896, 747 tonnes of Irish Potatoes in 2019 and 916,000 tonnes in 2018 making the crop the third most popular food crop produced in the country. The crop is grown in three agricultural seasons; one starts from July to October, the 2nd from November to February and the 3rd from March to June. However, farmers say that the required investment to reach such production is increasingly becoming costly. “For those who have no land, it requires to lease tillable land which is very expensive. It requires agro-chemicals and fertilizers that are also very expensive but only fertilizers are subsidised and many small farmers can’t afford all these at once,” said Jeannette Tuyisenge, a farmer from Musanze District who grows Irish potatoes on 60 acres. Farmers say that considering the costly investment, some farmers end up using low quality inputs and agro-chemicals leading them to losses. “Some farmers use little quantity of agro-inputs compared to the needed quantity. If you do not afford quality seeds that are currently expensive, you end up using substandard input which affects productivity. Due to financial issues, one can get seeds but lack fertilizers. You can get both but if you do not use other necessary inputs during the rainy season or to deal with pests, it could leave you in losses,” she said. “Some Irish potato farmers who can’t afford the investment cost switch to growing other crops such as maize, wheat, vegetables and fruits. We request extension of subsidies to agro-chemicals and seeds that are expensive,” she added. Other farmers sell their land to potential farmers because they have no financial means to grow potatoes. She noted that even for farmers who can afford the agro-inputs, their profits are minimal as the investment cost is often too high. Breaking down the investment cost Explaining the required investment cost, Jean Marie Vianney Nteziyaremye who is the President of KOAGIRUGA- Irish potato farmers’ cooperative in Kabatwa sector of Nyabihu District cited an example of 40 metres by 50 metres tillable land. Breaking down the investment cost figures, he said it requires to pay Rwf100, 000 to lease 40 metres by 50 metres tillable land for growing Irish Potato per one season. The piece of lack requires about four sacks of seeds with each sack weighing over 100 Kilogrammes. One Kilogramme of quality seeds costs about Rwf1, 000. This means that seeds to be planted on 40 metres by 50 metres tillable land cost over Rwf400, 000 per one season Nteziyaremye said a farmer has to spend Rwf120, 000 on agro-chemicals per season to spray crops, Rwf25, 000 on manure and 100 Kilogrammes of NPK fertilizers which cost over Rwf600 per Kilogramme. “During rainy period, we spray Dithane. It requires spraying two times a week which is done in the first two months and a half before the crops reach four months of maturity,” he said. This, he said, requires spraying over 16 times. Losses or profits? Considering the experiences of multiple farmers, the investment cost to lease land and buy agro-inputs amounts to over Rw700, 000 translating into Rwf3.5 million per hectare excluding labour cost. With labour costs, the investment cost could be over Rwf1 million per 40/50 meters land and Rwf5 million per hectare. The current average of yields per hectare is between 10 tonnes and 16 tonnes per hectare while the farmers ought to be harvesting over 30 tonnes according statistics from Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB). The average yield of Irish potato was slightly over 8 tonnes per hectare in Season A of 2020 according to data from the Seasonal Agriculture Survey by National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. During peak harvesting season, a farmer sells the harvest at between Rwf150 and Rwf200 per Kilogramme. Considering the average of yields per hectare and the investment cost per hectare, smallholder farmers count low profits. Farmers say potato produce mainly benefits middlemen who buy the produce from them at lower prices and sell them at high price in Kigali and other parts of the country. “The middle men also ‘cheat’ sellers using substandard scales. If a sack of produce weighs 135 kilogrammes, the substandard scale which they use weighs 115 Kilogrammes which is unfair. If one is selling large quanties, they could lose out on a lot,” said Simon Dusabe, another farmer from Musanze district said that some farmers. Farmers, especially smallholder farmers, say that when the situation is worsened by some crop diseases, some farmers totally count losses. Egide Gatari, the Agricultural Subsidies Programme Manager at Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) said that Irish potato seeds are not subsidized but he encouraged farmers to produce and store their own quality seeds so as to ensure they are always available and at an affordable price.

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Lack of subsidies on agro-chemicals and seeds weighs down potato farmers