Cayo farmers grow bumper crop of potatoes

Those cool nights over the last month were not just good for getting a sound night’s sleep. They also helped produce a bumper crop of potatoes. Speaking at a ceremony at Seven Miles community on the Mountain Pine Ridge Road, Agricultural Minister Dan Silva announced that imports of potatoes will no longer be needed as local production can more than satisfy Belize’s needs. There are two hundred and twenty-five acres of potatoes under cultivation countrywide, with one hundred and seventy in the Cayo District. Most of the harvest is sold to the Marketing Board at around fifty cents per pound. Consumer acceptance of the Belizean potatoes has been good although connoisseurs claim that the local spuds do not make French fries as crispy as the imports from Mexico or the U.S.A.