Success story on Potato Cultivation

Success story on Potato Cultivation under IARI-NEH Programme,

KVK Champhai, Mizoram

Challenges:

Farmers of Biate, Khawzawl, Neighdawn, Zaingen, and Tuipui village of Champhai, Mizoram have been cultivating unidentified varieties of Potatoes generally buying from the Grocery shop which are low yielding, tall stature, and sensitive to blight and frost. These characteristics of unidentified do not attract the farmers for commercial cultivation and moreover, it was not profitable. Potatoes are generally sown during the second week of October and harvested during the last week of January. This creates room to increase Potato production as well as cropping intensity and farmer’s income.

 Initiative:

Under IARI-NEH Programme, KVK Champhai introduced and popularized the Potato var. Kufri Jyoti through demonstration in the district with an aim to popularize double cropping by utilizing the residual moisture of soil after harvesting of maize, bean, soybean, and rice. Good quality seeds were provided to the farmers with proper training for potato sowing and cultivation.

Interesting results and feedback:

With the adoption of HYV of Potato, the average productivity recorded was 1.65 t/ha with a net return of Rs. 57,800/- per ha compared to the local unidentified variety yielding 0.90 t/ha with a net return of Rs. 28,000/-.

 Impact on farmer’s income/livelihood:

Under IARI-NEH Programme, 8 villages have adopted the cultivation of Potato var. Kufri Jyoti during 2021-22. In this demonstration, 24 farmers from Biate, Khawzawl, Neighdawn, Zaingen, and Tuipui villages covered 1.06 hectares of land. The average productivity of the variety was 1.65 t/ha with a net return of Rs 57,800.

Lesson learned:

We experienced that late sowing of Potato in the mid of November to December's first week hampered the production and productivity of crops in a different village. In this regard, we should ensure timely seed supply to the farmers as it is the prerequisite for the profitable cultivation of potatoes.