Silverio Romero Quispe: Native potato varieties hold incredible value for Peruvian communities

1Original Story: Faces of Impact, CIP CD-Rom

Here, every potato has its use. When a community member suffers from inflammation, we use the juice of the potato; the juice of the potato is also good for stomachaches. We also use the peel here, we make a powder from the peel.

In the markets the prices are very low for the native varieties. The people who buy in the market do not know most of the varieties, and they give us very low prices. The potatoes are all mixed together and not separated into varieties for consumption. We sow known varieties for the market.

In the individual plots, everyone participates. Sundays and holidays, when the children do not have classes, and after school during the week the children come and help us. Everyone harvests and everyone works.

This past Christmas we tasted potato chip for the first time. It’s very wonderful and hopefully it will improve the situation of our native potatoes in the market, so that we can have more income for our families.

We would like to educate our children better, and also improve the nutrition of our children. Perhaps even grow more crops, and everything that has to do with improving our way of life.

We are happy, and very thankful to CIP. They treat the community well and favor the community. Before, we did not have this support.

 

farmers, native potato, native varieties
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