Causas da redução na produção e qualidade - tamanho da batata reno nos distritos de Angónia e Tsangano

Abstract

Summary In the past, there was a lot of talk about the Angónia plateau as one of the granaries in the central region, which managed to meet the needs of rhine potatoes in this central region and in that of Lourenço Marques (Southern Region), thus reducing imports of this tuber from neighboring countries such such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi. In the present work, it is intended to identify the causes of the reduction in production and quality (size) of this tuber, trying to identify the constraints that occur during production as well as the limitations and potential of the productive methods used in order to reawaken interest on the part of the government to increase the production and quality of potatoes produced in the Districts of Tsangano and Angónia. It was intended to raise these questions through field work carried out with potato farmers and compare the results obtained in the past by this type of farmers. The results of the study show that despite the low yields they obtain, there are many farmers in both the family and private sectors investing in the cultivation of this crop, even knowing that the results to be obtained per campaign are not the best. This attitude, once again, reinforces the obligation that the Ministry of Agriculture has to train more extensionists to allocate in regions such as these, so that these areas return to producing quality rhine potatoes and in quantities that justify the region's potential.