AN INSIGHT INTO THE CHALLENGES OF IRISH POTATO CULTIVATION IN BOKKOS

Usseini Istifanus Dang
Volume 5 Issue 6

Abstract

Bokkos is found on the Jos plateau at an elevation of 4,400 feet it is characterized by extensive plain lands shares the same weather. Before the advent of colonialism, agricultural activities within the societies in Bokkos was generally small scaled, overwhelming emphasis was on subsistence production, the people cultivated crops ranging from cereals, root crops and vegetable.. Irish potato (solanum tuberosum) is cultivated in 140 countries and more than 100 of those countries are located in the tropical and Sub – Sahara Zones. Annual world production stands at 314.75 million tones and covers 19.55 million hectares. More than a billion people worldwide eat potato. In Africa, Nigeria occupies the seventh position in terms of total potato production (840 tonnes was produced in 2007 with an average price of N70, 000 per tonne. Over N5 Billion Naira circulated in Nigerian economy from potato production, potato is cultivated in Plateau state with the highest production from Bokkos and Mangu Local Governments. Bokkos is the major producer of Irish Potato due to the existence of vast land for rainy season and mining ponds/dams and valleys for the dry season; Irish potato was introduced on the Jos plateau and Bokkos in particular by Europeans mostly the miners in the later part of the 19thc and the early part of the 20thc. Since then Irish potato is being cultivated in a commercial quantity in most parts of Bokkos. This study found out that Irish potato cultivation in Bokkos has been faced with numerous challenges such as climate change, storage, diseases etc. ways of mitigating these challenges includes; adapting potato production to climate change, improving water capture and irrigation etc.. The study suggests that since Bokkos has the prospect of producing and supplying Nigeria and the entire west African sub-region with potato and potato products because it enjoys the best climate favourable for potato cultivation efforts must be made by the Government in restructuring the market, improving the infrastructures such as roads, storage facilities, introducing early maturing potato varieties etc. Keywords: Challenges, Irish Potato, Cultivation

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