The first-ever summit on potatoes, a significant event in the context of Nepal's agricultural landscape, was held on Thursday to celebrate World Potato Day in Nepal.

The summit, a collaborative effort by the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NICCI), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, was organised to address the challenges and promote innovation in Nepal's potato industry.

The summit, with its focus on fostering knowledge exchange, promoting innovation, and addressing challenges, is poised to significantly impact Nepal's potato industry. This is particularly important given potatoes' crucial role in Nepal's agricultural landscape and their contribution to food security, rural livelihoods, and economic growth.

In her welcome remarks, Shreejana Rana, president of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that Nepal's potato industry has experienced significant growth over the years, with advancements in cultivation practices and governmental support programmes. “Despite these achievements, there are still challenges to be addressed and opportunities to be capitalised on.”

She said that the ideas and inputs shared by the experts and participants would be more crucial to promoting potatoes as a major product in terms of food security and self-sustainability.

Agriculture Minister Jwala Kumari Sah said the summit would identify the pertinent issues in the potato, an agro product that is most favourable to anyone in the world, and could provide a pathway for the future in the context of Nepal.

NK Jha, CEO of Technico Agriscience Limited India, shared the practice and technical collaboration on potato farming aspects in India in the session entitled ‘Neighboring Country’s Experience’.

Jha stated that in 1935, India recognised potato as one of the major potential crops and established a centre to conduct research on potato and potato seeds. So far, the centre has developed 375 varieties of potatoes.

India is currently the second-largest potato supplier in the global market.

Binod Shah, the assistant FAO representative, said potatoes are the only product with immense possibilities in terms of self-sustainability, food security, and financial viability. FAO is supporting the government, producers, and private sectors in the area of capacity enhancement and is willing to provide technical inputs in the coming days, he added.