You say potato, I say tomato, but what is pomato? Yes, what is a pomato? The pomato is a grafted plant; a combination of tomato and potato plants where you have tomatoes growing on the vine of the plant and potatoes grow in the soil underground from the same plant.

Scientifically, tomatoes and potatoes are both in the Solanaceae family (a family of flowering plants) which makes it possible to graft the two plants so that they grow together.

According to Wikipedia, “pomato plants have been seen as a new technology to make food production more efficient, as they maximize the number of crops that can be produced on a piece of land or in a small urban environment like a balcony.”

The benefits of growing a pomato:

• Save space – two crops in the space of one
• Save water
• Less work throughout the season
• Same taste as normal tomatoes and potatoes

It is interesting to know that the pomato, hailed as a game changer in the farming space, does not grow from seeds. The two parts that make up the pomato plant remain genetically separate, but, after they are grafted, they need each other to live and grow.

Grafting can improve resistance to bacteria, viruses and fungi, attract a more diverse group of pollinators and provide a secure enough trunk for delicate plants.

The pomato plant can be grown both indoor or outdoor, which makes it an ideal plant for urban farming.

In the context of Africa, urban farming should be promoted by local authorities on open spaces, on rooftops and in citizen gardens, in order to have healthier cities.

Considering that the pomato plant has some element of novelty about it, let us make it an object of our urban farming experience.

It’s time to learn and experiment more on the pomato plant. Let’s go pomato!

Mokgokong Mokgethi