Experimental parcels at the community of Cumbre del Jaralon, supervised by third year students of EAPO and UNA

Eminently, potato is a crop from temperate climate, such as the predominant in Cumbre de Jaralon, in the municipality of San Marcos de Ocotepeque, where the second research experiment on winter potato farming has been established under the name “Assessment on Potato Varieties”, funded by the Millennium Challenge Account-Honduras and implemented by the Honduras Brotherhood Association, as part of the Project of Incentives for Horticulture Production.

The processes and the implementation of activities of the research component of potato farming are being implemented by the project ´s technicians, and have been developed with the participation of third year students of Escuela Agrícola Pompilio Ortega (EAPO),  and two interns of the career of Agronomic Engineering from the Universidad de Agricultura (UNA) who are in the process of writing their thesis in the area.

As part of the educational activities, a study tour took place to socialize the potato investigation manual and to provide basic knowledge on how to organize the research parcels, all in an effort to potentiate the participants comprehension on matters related to agriculture research, potato farming and management in the highlands of the Sensenti Valley.

Miguel Angel Melara, a farmer with 15 year of experience in potato farming expressed his approval for the MONDIAL variety that was tested in this occasion and presenting a yield of 85.000 pounds per hectare as preliminary result of the study, since the statistic analysis and the final report will be completed during the summer season.