Semilha

This name, given in Madeira to the Solanum tuberosum, a plant of the Solanaceae family, derives from the Spanish word semilla, which seems to have been written on a label that accompanied the first tubers that came to this island, imported from the Canaries, and which was taken here as the name of the plant. Semilha began to be cultivated in Madeira in 1760, and multiplies through its fragmented tubers, each fragment should contain some eyes. Three or four months after the tubers have been planted, the production is harvested.

Madeira annually produces about 25 million kilograms of semilhas, with an average yield of 10,000 kilograms per hectare (1921).

Semilha is also cultivated in Porto Santo, where it was introduced a little after 1820.

This plant originates from the Andes in South America and was brought to Europe by the Spaniards, shortly after the conquest of Peru. Associated with any other substance richer than it in nitrogenous principles, it constitutes an excellent food for humans, and can also be used both raw and cooked in the sustenance of animals.