& Improving seed potato production and utilization through

1. Reaping the benefits from investments in breeding: Dissemination of drought-tolerant orange-fleshed sweetpotato through effective partnerships & Improving seed potato production and utilization through capacity building, technology development, and promotion Prepared and presented by M. Andrade & D. Harahagazwe PIAT November 22 – 23, 2011 d promotion in Mozambique

2. Outline Progress made during the past year • Major objectives of work • Major activities (progress to date) • Key partners and their roles • Lessons learned • Major proposed activities and objectives for the coming year

3. Sweetpotato • Objective 1: Create a sustainable decentralized vine multiplication system in (Maputo, Gaza, Zambézia, Tete, and Manica • Objective 2:Evaluate two sets of new drought-tolerant clones in participatory on-farm trials, leading to the release of new varieties to be disseminated in collaboration with partners • Objective 3:Multiply and distribute drought-resistant OFSP varieties, backstopped by a demand-creation campaign, in collaboration with at least 10 different partners to reach at least 54,000 households by the end of 2011 • Objective 4: Improve access to new production, storage, and processing technologies, especially golden bread, and increase revenues from OFSP production through improved marketing linkages • Objective 5: Ensure the sustained capacity of IIAM to provide clean, pre-basic planting material of existing and new sweetpotato varieties through their tissue culture facilities

4. Create a sustainable decentralized vine multiplication system in (Maputo, Gaza, Zambézia, Tete, and Manica

5. 2. Evaluate two sets of new drought-tolerant clones in participatory on-farm trials, leading to the release of new varieties to be disseminated in collaboration with partners Major Objectives: Breeding 1. Generate drought resistance, orange-fleshed sweetpotato that combine different quality characteristics with significant improvements in yielding ability 2.Re-design sweetpotato breeding to produce varieties in fewer years (3-4) than currently (7-8 years): By “accelerated breeding method” 3. Establish community based seed systems for good quality seed dissemination and develop & test strategies for the multiplication and dissemination of sweetpotato varieties

6. Summary of all Trials Established from August 2006 to December 2009

7. Major achievement : • Release the first 15 OFSP drought tolerant varietiesbred using ABS in February 2011. Work was initiated in 2006 with funding from AGRA, USAID and HPlus (prior to SASHA) • Funds from SASHA supported the last phaseof this work in 2010 • The ABS methodology from the earliest stage of selection enabled the development to these varieties in 4 yearsin contrast to the 8 to 10 years typically required for sweetpotato variety development and release

8. Objective 2: cont. • 116 breeding and agronomic trials involving 13,769 genotypes were planted during the 2010/2011 For the crossing block established in 2010/2011in Umbeluzi & Gurue In Gurué, a total, 63,889 seeds harvested In Umbelúzi a total 1,450seeds were harvested

9. 3. Multiply and distribute drought-Tolerant OFSP, backstopped by a demand-creation campaign, in collaboration with at least 10 different partners to reach at least 54,000 HH by 2011

10. 4. Improve access to new production, storage, and processing technologies, especially golden bread, and increase revenues from OFSP production through improved marketing linkages • The establishment of 188 DVM and on-farm trials involved significant marketing and commercial trainings • Work with the bakery Aliança to build up on golden bread • Participation of the media in various events • Training on how to make sweetpotato products • Promoting selling session of storage roots • Field days (8) conducted, and more than 1,000 farmers and technicians observed the roots and vines of the new 15 clones, and tasted agro-processed products

11. 5. Ensure the sustained capacity of IIAM to provide clean, pre-basic planting material of existing and new sweetpotato varieties through their tissue culture facilities Tremendous progress in training virologists and technicians in virus identification and indexing • Production of virus-indexed in vitro plantlets from 15 clones recently released varieties • Cleaning up the germplasm collection in the greenhouse • Virus survey results from Mozambique finalised • In the lab A total of 6,441 plantlets (117 genotypes), from these 3,246 (64 genotypes) are free of virus

12. 5. Ensure the sustained capacity of IIAM and others

13. Collaboration with Other Partners Networks, Universities, organizations on multiplication, dissemination, agro-processing & market related activities Millennium Village, World Vision, Action AID, ADRA, HKI, ANSA, LWF primary schools, bakeries etc. Regional networking in SADC SASHA HarvestPlus OFDA Dissemination & RAC • Jose Ricardo (IIAM) • Felistus Chipungu(Malawi), • Britta (CIP Angola), • Martin Chiona (Zambia), • Jean Marc (Madagascar), • Sunette (South Africa), • Private sector, • Individual Farmers, • Farmers Associations/CBO • Government Extension, • IIAM, • Ministry of Education & Health

14. What expected to achieve in the coming year • Continuation with the breeding activities (effort supported by AGRA, HPlus & USAID with Varietal release to benefit farmers and improve productivity • Controlled drought stress experiment for the determination of WUE & OA • Massive multiplication and distribution of the new released clones through DVM and field days • Capacity strengthening apart from the on-going training to the students: the project should conduct more specific trainings to the partners and local technicians • Report the finding on vine survival • Identification and training of entrepreneurial individuals or CBO as DVM for their communities as well as develop their capacity for medium to large-scale OFSP root production • Conduct at least 3 trainings to ensure adequate capacity of IIAM tissue culture staff to produce clean, pre-basic planting material • Annual training sessions of extension personnel in partner organizations conducted

15. Improving seed potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production and utilization through capacity building, technology development, and promotion in Mozambique project objectives Establish quality seed potato production units in Mozambique. Empower potato farmers to produce quality seed potato using positive and negative selection techniques and to use improved production techniques. Identify and multiply potato varieties desired by consumers, processors and farmers, and investigate agronomic techniques to optimize production. Build national capacity for potato research and development and strengthen collaboration among stakeholders in the potato value chain.

16. Main achievements in 2011 • Lichinga new potato tissue culture laboratory inaugurated. • Production of • 19,538 in vitro plantlets • 7,067 mini tubers in screen houses • 2.5 t of G1 seed potato (Tsangano and Lichinga). • Production cost of G1 seed production in Tsangano determined • Technical backstopping to large and small scale potato seed farmers. • Two field days organized in Angónia on positive and negative selection techniques.

17. Production of 991 kg of good seed of the new varieties by farmers from Angónia Post harvest characterization of the seven new varieties 7 first potato varieties released in June 2011: Laldás (800923) Calinga (800946) Lulimile (381381.13) Angónia (384321.19) Wa kaya (393077.54) Chitukuko (395015.6) Kholophethe (395011.2)

18. Experimental data management training held in Lichinga for 16 IIAM scientists. Technical staff from the National Potato Program trained in Malawi. 2 IIAM scientists participated to the 10th ACSS Conference held in Maputo on October 10-13, 2011 (one oral presentation and one poster).

19. 2012 work plan highlights • At least 40,000 plantlets produced in two tissue culture labs (Maputo & Lichinga) • One screenhouse functional in Sussundenga • At least 40,000 mini tubers produced in aeroponic unit and conventional screenhouses • At least 1 ha of land planted with G1 new varieties seed • At least 250 farmers trained by trained facilitators • At least four DLS constructed and used by participating associations

20. 24 new heat tolerant and virus resistant clones introduced from Lima and multiplied for field evaluation in warm areas/environments • At least 90 extension staff, NGO technicians and field facilitators on potato ICM in 3 training workshops (Lichinga, Angónia and Maputo). • At least two students facilitated to conduct thesis work and 5 interns on potato production

21. Lessons Learned • Partnerships is a key aspect of the project • Proper communication skills are needed • Capacity building throughout is a must in all aspect, TC, Capacity on the Management aspect of the TC lab • Knowledge in the seed system is very important for good dissemination strategy • Uneven occurrences of viruses within different regions of Mozambique also indicate a risk of spreading different viruses through in-country distribution of non tested planting material

22. Acknowledgements Government AGRA USAID HarvestPlus SASHA Partners Collaborators

23. A better platform? • Fund raising • Expand the members of the platform by including others NGOs • A visit to the farmers field in order to give the participants a glimpse of what is really going on within the producers • The next meeting should have an open door session to different people and stakeholders • There should be a day where the platform invite students to participate in the meetings and field visiting • There should be more topics related to technology transfer going alongside with the production issues