VEGETABLES Potato growing for new farmers: Part 1

The potato is 99,9% fat-free, and yet it's a nutrient-dense food and an important dietary staple in more than 130 countries. Growing it isn't as labour-intensive as you might think, says our veggie expert, Bill Kerr.

Commercial potato growing has changed a lot in the past 20 years. Prior to this, many commercial farmers used a lot of labour. Often, the ridged potatoes would be lifted from the soil by an implement and then loaded by hand into bags and moved to the packhouse for washing and grading and packed into pockets.

The change in labour laws forced farmers to cut down on labour and mechanise. The crop is now planted mechanically and harvesting is done by machines. Potatoes are collected by conveyors, mechanically washed and graded, and placed onto belts from which bags are filled and sealed.

Clearly, all of this mechanisation is beyond the means of most small farmers and even some smaller commercial farmers. With emerging farmers, the scale of the operation will be substantially smaller; family members can help with planting and harvesting.

The farmer can also make use of manure. This will reduce the amount of chemical fertiliser you need to buy, or even eliminate the need for chemical fertiliser if cattle and poultry manure is used.

If chemical fertiliser is used, 2:3:4 mixture is preferred. Although potatoes are heavy feeders, they have a compact root system so that all the fertiliser can be applied to the furrows that are about 1m apart. This means you do not have to fertilise the whole area, another saving.