Hello Eco-Community,
I’m reaching out to tap into the collective wisdom of this group. I’ll soon be giving a presentation in Guatemala to representatives from several potato cooperatives, focused on regenerative potato cultivation and pathways for transitioning away from conventional systems.
I’d love to highlight examples from around the world—farms, cooperatives, or projects—where potatoes are being grown using regenerative approaches. This could include practices such as:
- Cover crops and crop rotations with potatoes
- Soil fertility management through compost, green manures, or bio-inputs
- Reduced tillage approaches
- Integrated pest management with ecological methods
- Landscape or watershed approaches connected to potato production
If you know of initiatives, case studies, or even personal experiences worth sharing, I’d be very grateful. These stories can help inspire Guatemalan farmers who are beginning to explore regenerative practices in potato production.
Thank you so much in advance for your insights and examples!
Warmly,
Rafael
Hi Rafael,
I recently hosted a webinar on growing potatoes from true seed (TPS). Besides growing from seed, the presenter has a unique method of dense plantings in a wide bed without hilling. He practices the Biointensive method. Recommend listening directly:
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It is great that you want to develop best management practices for potatoes and indeed anything labeled “regenerative” is popular these days. I would be careful how much you convert to so-called “regenerative” without testing it against the methods used by the most successful potato growers. There is a reason why there is a standard method of growing potatoes and they are a crop that is grown inexpensively on a large scale. If you want to help Guatemalan farmers you will have to experiment on a small scale and find ways to improve on their income and always have sidebysides and cost and labor analysis. Sustained increases in income should be the goal not a regenerative methodology which will just be someone’s biased perspective as to what is regenerative. I don’t believe the many of the concepts normally associated with "regenerative’ translates well into potato production high income. For example, potatoes tend to do best with cultivation and throwing soil on the potatoes and not with no-till. They need loose soils and no-till will not allow you to build more soil over the potato stem as it is growing which is an important contributor to yield increase. Also you have to be very careful with manure since it can carry diseases and so the manure should be applied a year in advance generally or composted. Composting the large quantities of manure you would need for peak production on a larger scale would be nearly impossible with hand labor or it could machinery intensive (costly). Irrigation is good but be careful with your water sources as they can introduce disease. Also water harvesting can rapidly introduce disease as well if you are collecting from a distance where potatoes are being grown or have grown in recent years. If rainfed water is typically not sufficient and the farmers are not using mechanized systems then you could try various systems of water harvesting depending on the slope and where you get the water. Be sure to rotate your crop for several years, longer if you end up with fusarium or other wilts. Too much nitrogen can be a problem but unlikely if trying to switch to regenerative since regenerative often means less reliance on chemical fertilizers. Best to avoid the whole tomato family (eggplant, tomato, tobacco, etc.) and kill off weeds in the family years in advance. I would never recommend moving away from chemical fertilizers because studies have shown that generally chemical fertilizers when used with organic matter addition or compost or manure there are higher yields. Chemical fertilizer is flexible in composition and can focus on the things that are still under optimum or under an economic fertility threshold even after adding organic matter, manure, or compost. On a smaller scale I have mulched my potatoes but this is a big job but may be worth it when not using mechanization. However, you may want to do all of the hilling or mounding before mulching.which means your mulch can not go on as early. This reduces the justification for mulching. I am not a proponent of special bio-liquids unless they are very cheap or you don’t have to detract from other important management obligations to make them. Fertility corrections usually require larger volumes. Cover crops could be used between cropping seasons.
Thanks so much, Dan, for taking the time to write such a detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate the practical insights you shared — especially your reminders about testing any new approach side-by-side, carefully tracking labor and cost, and prioritizing sustained income gains for farmers.
Your points about the biological and agronomic realities of potatoes are also very well taken — the need for loose soil and hilling, caution with manure due to disease risk, and the value of combining organic matter with well-balanced chemical fertilizers to achieve consistent yields. I also found your notes on irrigation hygiene and long crop rotations particularly relevant to the Guatemalan highlands, where disease pressure and slope conditions can make management tricky.
These are exactly the kinds of grounded perspectives that help balance the enthusiasm around “regenerative” language with the realities of production and farmer livelihoods. Thanks again for sharing your experience so generously, and wishing you continued success with your work in Africa.
Warm regards,
Rafael
