Planting and harvesting potatoes

Potatoes are grown from disease-free seed potatoes, require a lot of fertiliser, and are labour-intensive. All of this costs plenty, warns Bill Kerr.

- Bill Kerr

In years gone by, potato farming in South Africa was carried out mostly by smaller farmers, with only a few large producers. Today, it is done mainly by large operators. This is due to the increased cost of labour, which has encouraged farmers to mechanise production, from planting to harvesting, and washing to packing. But to be able to afford this machinery, potato farmers must plant large areas.

Small-scale potato farmers are found largely in outlying areas, where mechanisation is confined to simple implements for removing the potatoes from the soil. Family members carry out the manual work.