Malawians told to preserve Mbatata

By Natasha Kamoto

Blantyre, June 9: Farmers in the country have been advised to practice locally ways of preserving sweet potatoes which includes traditional pit storage as one way of keeping it longer for future use.

Speaking in an interview Agriculture expert Leonard Chimwaza said, with the general outlook of this year’s production based on the availability and accessibility, the country has registered an increase in sweet potato production.

 “Malawi has seen a bumper crop of sweet potato this year, because of good rainfall that provided conducive environment for potatoes to grow and do better.

 “So, farmers need to practice proper harvest management and use local ways for preserving the potatoes which can make it stay longer even for five months” Chimwaza said.

He said the country can use sweet potatoes for commercialization by broadening its utilization and embracing value addition on the market.

However, sweet potato farmer Majid Salijeni from Chiradzulu district said sweet potato farmers are lacking good advice on what to do with the unexpected increase in production of sweet potatoes.