Malawi: Sweet potatoes demand high

The recent harvest season has seen a bumper harvest not only in maize but also in other crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes which are not only a source of protein but an income generator.

Researchers at Bvumbwe Agriculture Research Station banged their heads together for the past years and discovered than millions of Kwacha can be realised from sweet potatoes and seed multiplication of pigeon peas.

During a field day held last week at the research centre, the researchers showcased different crops that can turn around the countries economy if proper farming practice is followed.

According to the researchers commercial varieties of sweet potatoes such as the orange type, if revisited with best practice and spacing can generate K666,000 per hector if spaced at 75cm apart.

The researchers also said that irrigation is another best way of cultivating sweet potatoes and farmers can harvest twice under a year.

According to their findings sweet potatoes can be made into flour which is raw material for making biscuits and selling at K40 per kilogram small scale farmers stand a chance of earning more than K555,000 per hector.