Aragaw, A.

Gebreselassie, S.

Gorfu, D.

Hailemariam, G.

Lemaga, B.

Schulz, S.

Shiferaw, W.

Woldegiorgis, G.

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PILOTING OF INFORMAL POTATO SEED INSPECTION SCHEME:  FIRST RESULTS FROM ETHIOPIA Steffen Schulza), Gebremedhin Woldegiorgisb), Solomon Gebreselassiea), Gebrehiwot Hailemariama), Abiyot Aragawa), Wondimagegne Shiferawc), Berga Lemagad), Dereje Gorfub) a) International Potato Center (CIP) c/o ILRI, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa b) Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), PO Box 2003, Addis Ababa c) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), PO Box 5536, Addis Ababa d) Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), 7th floor Zequala Complex, Jomo Kenyatta Road, Addis Ababa Background 135 fields were inspected, out of which 116 were accepted as seed plots and 19 were rejected. In addition, more than 80 seed stores were inspected.   Experiences to date indicated that:  • Participant farmers, technicians and district administrators view the scheme as useful and suggest institutionalization: Initially, inspections should be funded by incorporating this activity into the regular work program of government line agencies while the cooperatives buy the labels; at a later stage, the inspection could be funded entirely by cooperatives  • QDPM objectives and procedures need to be clearly communicated to both technical staff and district-level administrators as well as seed producer cooperatives to create confidence and ownership • Peer control among cooperative members is an effective tool to maintain quality standards, however, cooperatives need to develop and agree on guidelines on how to deal with rejected seed lots to avoid internal conflict • The currently used inspection procedures may need to be simplified / shortened to reduce staff / farmer time needed for the inspections.    Overall feedback is positive. It is recommended to continue piloting and lobbying for at least two additional seasons while simultaneously addressing emerging bottlenecks such as institutionalization, funding and high government staff turnover. The ultimate aim being to operationalize the concept at national level.  Materials and Methods  The QDPM scheme suggests that two inspection committees, (CoopCom and WerCom) carry out 2 field and 1 post-harvest inspection (Fig 1). The CoopCom consists of representatives of the concerned seed producer cooperative while the WerCom is composed of technical experts from the official, district-level R&D system. The crops in the field and the stored seed tubers are assessed visually against an agreed set of indicators (Table 1 and 2). The system is being piloted in 8 districts of 3 regional states, involving 14 seed producer cooperatives. In 2013, a survey was conducted among members of the two committees as well as district administrators to collect feedback on their perception of the inspection scheme.   Results and Discussion Conclusions  Acknowledgments Citations FAO, 2010. Quality declared planting material. Protocols and standards for vegetatively propagated crops. FAO plant production and protection paper 195 S. Schulz, G. Woldegiorgis, G. Hailemariam), A. Aliyi, J. van de Haar, and W. Shiferaw, 2013. Sustainable Seed Potato Production in Ethiopia: From Farm-saved Seed to Quality Declared Planting Material. In: Seed Potato Tuber Production and Dissemination – Experiences, Challenges and Prospects (Eds G. Woldegiorigs, S. Schulz, B. Berihun). EIAR, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (in press).  An informal seed inspection scheme for the production of quality potato seed tubers is being piloted in Ethiopia since mid-2012. The scheme builds on the FAO/CIP concept of producing Quality Declared Planting Material (QDPM). The QDPM concept is recognized by the Ethiopian seed legislation as an option to increase the availability of quality seed potato. However, implementation procedures for vegetatively propagated crops have not yet been developed and tested. It is the purpose of this poster to summarize first findings of the piloted seed inspection scheme.  The authors acknowledge the funding provided by USAID for this pilot activity.  Figure 1: Illustration of the QDPM inspection scheme designed for potato in Ethiopia REQUIREMENTS/DEFECTS/DISEASES TOLERANCE Rotation of at least 3 years Incorrect variety (off-type) 1% Bacterial wilt Nil Total viruses (leaf roll + mild mosaic + severe mosaic) 5% DEFECTS/PESTS RECOMMENDATIONS   Graded (40 to 70g) > 10% over- or under-size tubers found, grading is needed Off-type/mixture If any varietal impurities found, sorting is needed  Tuber rots If rotting tubers found, sorting is needed Defective tubers If defective tubers found, sorting is needed Soil If soil weight exceeds 2% of the total weight, the tubers need to be cleaned  Variety labeling & separation Varieties clearly labeled and separated by physical barrier. If not, this needs to be done Cleanness Floor, unused benches and surroundings of DLS are free of rotten or dried up potato tubers and potato plants, if not, cleaning is needed  Tagging  (1 tag / 100 kg bag) Estimate quantity of clean seed tubers to provide the correct number of tags for each producer Table 1: Tolerance levels for field inspection  Table 2: Tolerance levels for post-harvest inspection in Diffused Light Stores  Label for potato seed bags QDPM field inspection 

Piloting of informal potato seed inspection scheme: First results from Ethiopia.

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Piloting of informal potato seed inspection scheme: First results from Ethiopia.

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