According to the International Potato Center (CIP), the sweet potato industry in the Philippines is not pushing out processing technology to the farm level. Also, in many cases it has insufficient linkages between the producers and markets.
“There are lot of technologies there. There are organizations with developing technologies, available in the Philippines and elsewhere. But the thing is how it will reach farmers? We are looking at that gap and how we can fill up that gap,” CIP Asia Regional Director Samarendu Mohanty said in an interview.
“There are different technologies but farmers don’t have any clue,” Mohanty added. “We are trying to identify who the trusted agencies are where farmers can get the information.”
Mohanty said when climate change effects are becoming evident, a shift in the planting calendar is necessary. Sweet potatoes are resilient crops that can survive floods, and are recommended for planting during the rainy season, while the dry season can be devoted to other crops.
“Kamote, or sweet potato, is a very resilient crop. It can survive typhoons and floods. (Farmers are) saying sweet potato can be very profitable. There are farmers who are making millions of pesos selling sweet potato. The problem is when you look at the Philippines, sweet potato production has been declining. It used to be 250,000 hectares in 1980. Now, it’s less than 80,000 hectares.”
According to CIP, more than 105 million tons of sweet potato are produced globally, with 95% produced in developing countries.
