Growing Sweet Potato in Machakos

Soil suitability analysis based on Machakos's nutrient profile

Machakos County is a solid choice for Sweet Potato, with a soil-match score of 71/100. At an average pH of 7.03 the soil sits above Sweet Potato's preferred 4.5–7 range, which can limit uptake of phosphorus and micronutrients. Nitrogen (0.82 g/kg), phosphorus (31.4 mg/kg) and potassium (338 mg/kg) all meet Sweet Potato's requirements, so a maintenance fertilizer programme is enough. The county's predominantly sandy loam soils suit Sweet Potato, which favours sandy loam. Sweet Potato's full potential is about 5,000 kg/acre (~KES 90,000/acre at KES 18/kg), but at Machakos's 71/100 suitability a realistic target here is closer to 4,438 kg/acre (~KES 79,884/acre) unless the constraints above are addressed.