Plateau State has officially launched the Potato Value Chain Project in Mangu Local Government Area. Inaugurated by Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, the multi-faceted development features a state-of-the-art Tissue Culture Laboratory, a specialised training centre, a regional processing plant, and a wide distribution network.
Governor Mutfwang stated: “Today is a story of recovery, a story of repositioning and a story of putting round pegs in round holes. When you get the right people to do the right job, you get the right results.”
The Governor explained that the newly built value chain systematically extends beyond basic farming to encompass automated processing, packaging, and coordinated marketing networks.
The state has finalised plans to kickstart the local production of potato chips and flakes, while concurrently introducing these value-added derivatives into the state’s school feeding programme to put real purchasing power into the pockets of rural households.
The technological base of the “Plateau Potato Revolution” is anchored by the new Tissue Culture Laboratory.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Samson Bugama, along with the Chairman of Mangu Local Government Council, Emmanuel Mwolpun, noted that the laboratory will serve as the primary nucleus for breeding clean, indigenous potato strains capable of competing globally.
Private sector partners, including Mr Steve Bawa of Fruits and Veggies Limited and Engineer Adegoke Olowale of Transparent Engineering Construction Nigeria Limited, revealed that the project has already trained 100 licensed community seed producers and generated massive youth employment.
Ten containers of high-quality seeds have already been successfully multiplied across 90 hectares, making it one of the largest seed multiplication campaigns in West Africa. Governor Mutfwang clarified that the disease-free seeds are meant strictly for multiplication, warning, “What we are giving out today is not for consumption; it is for multiplication.”
Providing a detailed administrative review, the State Project Coordinator for the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project, Chief Jerry Gushop, revealed that the implementation team delivered more in the past year than what had been achieved since the scheme’s inception in 2017.
The project has established a massive infrastructure footprint across multiple communities. Achievements include the construction of 118.4 kilometres of rural access roads, the development of nine community markets, nine diffuse light storage stores, 17 spring capture systems, and 22 water harvesting structures.
Chief Gushop added that the programme has distributed 1,000 water pumps, 1,200 bags of quality seed, and 270 tonnes of improved crop varieties alongside processing plants in Mangu, Bokkos, and Barkin Ladi, ensuring sustainable all-year farming models for thousands of local mothers and young entrepreneurs.
Source: Government of Plateau State
