Potato Production in Nicaragua

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Farmer to Farmer volunteers Dennis Bula and Brian Bowen from Wisconsin recently traveled to Nicaragua to provide specific technical advice to potato producers and local advisors. Bula is a career farmer growing seed potatoes in Northern Wisconsin. Bowen is employed by the University of Wisconsin research system, emphasizing plant breeding and commercial variety development.   Together, they made a great team that combined research and applied production. While Bowen has managed potatoes in a research environment for 25 years, Bula's presence was particularly powerful as a grower.

The technical assistance had been requested by stakeholders in the local potato industry to address two major topics: 1) seed potato management and 2) an insect-disease complex, which in the Latin American world has taken on several names: papa manchada (stained potato) or papa rayada (striped potato) or most commonly used, Paratrioza. In North America this complex is called Zebra Chip. Training focused on potato seed production, potato storage, fertilizer inputs, and of course potato disease.

To read more about the work Bula and Bowen did in Nicaragua, visit the website of the Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas chapter to download their full trip report:
http://www.wisnic.org/index.php/2-uncategorised/55-potato-production-in-nicaragua

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