Over 3000 tonnes of healthy potato seed have been produced in Afghanistan in a step towards developing an efficient and sustainable seed production and marketing system. The eventual impact of the work will be to produce more food to reduce hunger, alleviate poverty, improve living standards of rural people and reduce the area under illicit crop production.

Potato is the third most important food crop in Afghanistan, but good quality seed is scarce because of the lack of a formal seed-producing system and an ineffective informal system. This is limiting the potential to increase area, productivity and improve quality of produce.

CIP in collaboration with the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and with USAID-RAMP (Rebuilding Agricultural Markets Program) funding, has recently completed a project in Afghanistan to produce good quality potato seed for resource poor farmers by developing in-country seed production programs. An integrated approach is being used to achieve the goals of self-sufficiency in seed potato and to ensure its availability through out the potato producing regions of Afghanistan.

Using a ‘flush out’ approach, CIP initially created a sustainable seed system in Nangarhar province. Quality potato seed imported from India and Pakistan was planted by 25 CIP-trained farmer-seed-multipliers. The seed produced was used in the RAMP-funded project, along with fresh supplies from the region, to replace the existing unhealthy material farmers were using. Since 2002, project workers have been disseminating improved location-specific technologies for healthy seed production, multiplication and maintenance at farm-level, and training staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food (MAAHF), farmers and extension workers to use these technologies. Linkages are being developed to sell good quality seed in zones that do not produce their own seed. The approach taken is expected to increase potato production and farm income substantially by enhanced productivity of quality potatoes.

Thirty five country stores were built to provide an economical and improved way of seed potato storage with a capacity of 20 tonnes each. Through various training activities, over 20,000 farmers, extension workers, village elders, and staff of other agencies have directly benefited from project activities. Three radio programs on potato production and marketing were produced in collaboration with the Communications Unit of ICARDA, Afghanistan. These programs were broadcast by more than 50 local radio stations and reached over an estimated 15 million listeners.

CIP and ICARDA are jointly working to achieve a targeted production of 54,000 tonnes of potato seed by 2009 in Afghanistan in order to hand over the entire potato seed production program to the MAAHF in the next few years.


Text supplied by Muhammad Arif*, Moeen-Uddin*, Mohinder Singh Kadian**, Sarath Ilangantileke** and Nasrat Wassimi***

* CIP-Kabul, Afghanistan
** CIP Regional Office for South, West and Central Asia
*** ICARDA-Kabul Afghanistan