TEN varieties of drought resistant kumala are being grown at a Ministry of Agriculture demo plot in Ba.
This project, spearheaded by the ministry’s research and extension division, aims to establish which crops can grow with minimum or no water supply.
According to the senior agricultural officer for the Ba province, Saidi Achari, this was one of the major projects undertaken by the ministry.
“Research brought drought tolerant varieties of kumala from Peru and they tried it at the research station,” she said.
“Multiple trials were conducted and they screened it for pests, diseases and production. Now, they have come to a stage where we trial it out at the farmer’s field.”
She said the trial project in Ba had neared its last phase and the crops would be harvested by the end of June or early July.
“We will look at the production so we will organise a field day here and we will cook the kumala to see which varieties are preferred.”
She said the project would assist farmers through the dry seasons.
“As everybody knows, Ba was very badly affected due to the long drought spell last year.
“For these demo plots, we only watered the seedlings during establishment to allow it to germinate and after that, I don’t think after that we have received any rainfall.
“We will monitor what the product is like, what variety is the best and what variety farmers prefer in terms of taste.”
Ms Achari said after harvesting, they would get feedbacks from farmers on which varieties were suitable for them.
Following this, the ministry’s research division would do a mass production on that variety.
