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56 POTATO GROWER | DECEMBER 2017 56 POTATO GROWER | DECEMBER 2017 CULTIVATING A NEW MARKET Senegal set to become top market for U.S. seed potato exports Potatoes USA By Amy Burdett Marketing Operations Director Senegal is expected to increase imports of U.S. seed potatoes to as much as 800 tons of the 2017 U.S. crop. The country's growers are seeking drought- and heat-tolerant varieties to suit their climate. In 2017-18, Senegal is expected to increase imports of U.S. seed potatoes exponentially, according to Amadou Diop, who presented the Senegal market prospects at Potatoes USA's International Seed Symposium on July 31. Diop projected Senegal could import as much as 800 tons of the 2017 U.S. crop. He should know; Diop is at the center of a flourishing U.S. seed potato trade to Senegal. His country's growers are seeking drought- and heat-tolerant varieties to suit their climate. They would like to import seed ready to plant from September through December. Buyers are open to considering varying skin colors and shades of flesh. Can you locate Senegal on a map? It's the westernmost point on the continent of Africa and it faces the United States, which is what potato growers in Senegal are now doing. At the current sales pace of U.S. seed potatoes, this market is poised to be among the top three global destinations for U.S. potatoes for cultivation, only three years after the first U.S. seed exports to the country. In 2015-16, Potatoes USA introduced three varieties of U.S. seed potatoes to Senegal under USDA-funded international market development programs. Those 50 tons of samples produced an exceptional crop for growers in fields north of the capital of Dakar working in a strip of arable land not far from the Atlantic coast. A few months after harvest and the successful sale of the resulting fresh potatoes in the local retail market, a team of three Senegalese visitors came to California and North Dakota to meet potential U.S. seed suppliers. This Potatoes USA-sponsored visit consisted of an importer, a grower and a government official. While in North Dakota, the delegation spent a day touring farms and learning about seed certification and the North Dakota breeding programs. The trip helped create the first commercial sales of U.S. seed potatoes to Senegal. As such, in September 2016, 166 tons were exported to Senegal. Senegalese potato grower Mohamed Gaye evaluates a U.S. seed potato load destined for export to his farm. Macoumba Diouf, Senegal's national director of horticulture, holds U.S. potatoes harvested near Stockton, Calif.