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The 13th World Potato Congress opened in Naivasha, Kenya, with healthy seed access at the top of the agenda. Three technologies — rooted apical cuttings, hybrid true potato seed and aeroponics — were presented as routes to break African growers’ dependence on costly or diseased seed tubers.

The 13th World Potato Congress began in Naivasha, Kenya, with the production of and access to healthy, quality seed among the central themes of its agenda. During the first day, six technical workshops were held, three of them dedicated to technologies that seek to accelerate the multiplication of clean material and reduce dependence on costly or disease-affected seed tubers.

Rooted apical cuttings. The first technology presented was the production of rooted apical cuttings, known internationally as RAC. The system uses disease-free mother plants obtained through tissue culture, from which cuttings are taken and then rooted in nurseries. The method allows rapid multiplication of material with high sanitary quality and the establishment of production units closer to farmers — cutting transport costs and easing smallholders’ access to improved seed. Because cuttings can be taken repeatedly from the same mother plant, RAC units can keep producing planting material through much of the year without depending on a single harvest window.

Hybrid botanical seed. A second alternative under discussion was hybrid botanical potato seed, which makes it possible to start the crop from true seeds instead of tubers. Botanical seeds take up little space, are easier to store and transport, and can reduce the logistical problems associated with seed tubers, which are bulky, perishable and expensive to move along rural roads. The workshop also addressed the business models and alliances needed to bring down the cost of propagation material and widen its availability in lower-income countries.

Aeroponics for minitubers. The third technology presented was aeroponics — a soilless production system in which roots remain suspended and receive water and nutrients through a sprayed solution. The technique allows early-generation minitubers to be produced under controlled conditions, reduces contact with soil-borne pathogens and makes it possible to achieve a high multiplication rate on a limited surface area.

Seed remains Africa’s constraint. In numerous production systems across East Africa, farmers continue to use part of the previous harvest as seed. That practice favors the accumulation and transmission of diseases over successive seasons, progressively reducing yields and locking growers into a low-productivity equilibrium. The three technologies presented in Naivasha aim to strengthen seed systems, increase the availability of clean material and bring innovations within reach of small-scale producers.

The World Potato Congress runs from 26 to 30 October and brings together representatives of more than 60 countries in Kenya — the first edition ever held in sub-Saharan Africa. The choice of venue is itself a statement: with African potato output growing faster than on any other continent, the industry’s knowledge institutions are being pushed to deliver seed solutions designed for smallholder realities rather than adapted after the fact. Naivasha’s first day suggests that message has been heard.