Advances in production technology of

Sweet potato
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Dr. V.P.S Panghal Pooja Pahal
2022A64D

Sweet potato: (Ipomea batatas)

o Popularly known as Sakarkand in India
o Family: Convolvulaceae
o Chromosome no.: 2n= 6x=90 (natural hexaploidy)
o Origin: South America (Tropical America)
o Ancestor: Ipomea trifida
It is an important tuber crop in tropical and sub-tropical countries like Africa, China and India.

Area and Production

The world’s production of sweet potatoes reaches 91.8 million tons with a cultivated area of around 7.7 million
hectares. Asia region is still the main region of sweet potato cultivation with the production of 59 million tons.
In the second place, the Africa region with production reaches 27 million tons (Anonymous, 2019-20).
India produced 1141 thousand MT of sweet potatoes from an area of 108 thousand hectares (Anonymous, 2019-
20). Odisha is the leading producer area of 40410 thousand hectares with a production of 381040 MT per hectare
followed by Kerela (Anonymous, 2017-18).
Uses
Sweet potato is cultivated for its sweet root tubers. It is mainly used for human food after boiling or steaming,
baking or frying and also as animal feed. Since roots contain 16% starch and 4% sugar, it is used for the
production of industrial starch, syrup and alcohol. Also utilized for canning, dehydrating and flour manufacture.
Sweet potato is the cheapest source of calories and contains an appreciable amount of vitamin A, B, and C.
Sweet potato also contains carotene (orange flesh) ranges between 5.4-20 mg/100g. In USA 60-70% of the
sweet potato is utilized for human food.
Botany
Sweet potato is a hexaploid species with 90 somatic chromosomes. It is a perennial herb with trailing vines and
with a cluster of a few medium-sized tubers. For cultivation purposes, it is treated as an annual with a duration
of 90 to 120 days. Though plants produce viable seeds, the highly heterozygous nature of the crop results in a
heterogeneous population. Hence stem cuttings are used for propagation purposes. Sweet potato has an
extensive fibrous root system both at stem cuttings and at nodes touching soil. Some roots act as storage organs
for storing reserve food. Storage roots may be fusiform, spindle or globular in shape and the surface is smooth.
The skin has white, red or light copper colour. The flesh may be white or with different combinations of orange
and red. Leaves are simple, alternate and stipulate. It is a short-day plant and the ideal day length for sweet
potato flowering is 11.5 hrs and at >13.5 hours it fails to flower. The suitable rootstock cultivar for flowering
and seed set is Ipomea carnea ssp. fistulosa)

Flowers are bisexual. Flower and white to purple in colour. Anthesis starts before dawn and closes by 9-11 a.m.
Pollination is entomophilous (honey bees and bumblebees). Fruit is a capsule with false septa. The seed coat is
hard and impervious to water. Hence, scarification is required for promoting germination.
Sporophytes SI is observed in sweet potatoes.
Breeding Objectives
➢ Breeding cultivars for table use
➢ Breeding cultivars for processed foods
➢ Breeding cultivars for industrial raw materials of alcohol and starch
➢ Breeding for high yield
➢ Breeding for good keeping and cooking quality of tubers
➢ Breeding for high protein content
 ➢ Breeding for abiotic stress resistance
➢ Breeding for resistance to pests and diseases
Methods adopted for improvement
Selection: The incompatibility system in sweet Potato offers to maintain a high level of heterozygosity and thus
provide ample scope of selection even among the collection of local cultivars. Selection criteria are chosen to
sieve out phenotypes, possessing high yield potential, desirable physiological rhythm in crop development
under diverse eco-edaphic conditions; field resistance to major pests and pathogens and acceptable qualities.
Selection is often subjective and always on the basis of phenotype arid breeding value. The germplasm has to
be evaluated critically for various agronomic characters, compatibility groups and for disease & pest resistance.
Hybridization Technique in Sweet Potato
As the sweet potato flowers are bisexual, emasculation is required for hybridization. the flowers when matured,
open before dawn (in darkness). The flowers remain open for a few hours and wilt after dawn. Dehiscence of
anthers occurs before anthesis and hence emasculation is done the previous day evening and pollination is done
in the early hours of the day from 4.00 to 7.00 am. to ensure maximum fruit set. For this, an incision is made a
little above the starting point of the corolla tube with a pointed needle. The corolla tube is cut off carefully and
stamens are then removed by a pair of forceps. The emasculated buds are then covered by a butter-paper cover.
Hand pollination is done by dusting the stigma with pollen from the male flower. Maximum fruit set is ensured
during early hour’s pollination. By the third day, the top cover is cut to allow aeration.
Cultivars
There are two broad categories of sweet potato:
1. The staple type with white flesh and white or purple skin have high starch and dry-matter content.
2. The dessert type with orange flesh and orange skin with a high sugar and beta-carotene content.
Commonly three distinct types of sweet potato available for commercial production include:
1. Orange/copper skin with orange flesh

2. Red/purple skin with cream/white flesh

 3. White/cream skin with white/cream flesh

Varieties
Sweet potato cultivars grown in India are mostly popular local cultivars.
Few cultivars are currently used for commercial production are:
✓ Pusa Safed and Pusa lal (Bihar and U.P.)
✓ Rajendra Sakarkand-92 (flood prone area of Bihar)
✓ H-268 (Maharashtra)
✓ Kanhangad Local (Kerela)
✓ H-41, H-42, H-268 and S-30 (Andhra Pradesh)

Varieties Hybrid/Clone Salient features

Shree Nandini Clonal Selection Drought tolerant
Shree Vardhini Clonal Selection Purple skin, yellow flesh
Shree Rethna Hybridization Purple skin, Orange flesh
Shree Bhadra Clonal Selection Trap crop for RKN
Shree Kanaka Inter-varietal hybrid Short duration, B-carotene rich variety
Pusa lal - Good keeping quality
Pusa safed - Excellent cooking quality
Co-3 - Orange flesh, B-carotene rich variety
Pusa Bharti - High vit – C & B-carotene
Soil requirements
Sweet potato requires well-drained fertile soil rich in humus. Sandy loam soils with clay subsoil are ideal
for tuber production. In heavy soils, tuber size is reduced. Ideal soil pH is below 5.2, liming is necessary.
Climate requirements
It requires moderately warm weather. In India, sweet potato is generally cultivated as a rainfed crop and
grows best at temperatures >24°C or (25-32°C range). The ideal temperature for tuber formation: 20-30°C.
Required light intensity for tuber formation: 18,000-40,000 Lux. Requires plenty of sunshine and moderate
rainfall. High rainfall and long photoperiod promote vine growth and reduce tuber yield.
Raising nursery
Sweet potato is mainly propagated by vine cuttings of 25-30 cm in length. Cuttings for planting are
multiplied in two nurseries – primary and secondary. Tubers in the primary nursery are planted three months
ahead of planting. A nursery area of 10m2 is required to raise vines for planting one hectare. Ridges are
prepared at 60 cm apart and tubers of 125-150 g weight are planting and irrigated as and when required.
Clip off vines to a length of 20-30 cm at 40-45 days after sowing tubers for planting in the secondary
nursery.
A 500 m2 secondary nursery is required to plant cuttings obtained from 100 m2. Plant the cuttings at 25-30
cm apart in ridges taken at a spacing of 60 cm. 5 kg urea may be applied at 15-30 days after planting in the
nursery. Clip off cuttings in 20-30 cm length after 45 days from the middle and top portion of vines. Cut
vines are stored with intact leaves in shade for two days prior to planting in the main field.
Preparation of main field and planting
Vines are planted during June-July for a rainfed crop. Crop. Under irrigated conditions, plant during
October-November in upland and during January-February in low lands for the summer crop. The main
field is prepared by making ridges of 25-30 cm high at 60 cm apart after thorough ploughing. 20-30 cm
long vines are buried horizontally with 2-3 nodes below the soil, leaving the remaining portion above soil.
Manures and fertilizers
Apply 5 tonnes of farmyard manure/ha at the time of preparation of ridges. A fertilizer dose of 50:25:50 kg
NPK / ha is recommended, of which 50% of N, full P and K are to be applied as basal dose. The remaining
50% of N has applied one month after along with weeding and earthing up.
Effect of growth substances
Foliar application of CCC at 250, 500 and 1000 ppm increased the yield and application of ethephon at
250 ppm resulted in a larger number of tubers and higher yield. Also, the foliar application of kinetin at 50
and 100 ppm caused a higher tuber yield of (number, fresh and dry weight).
Irrigation: The critical stage of moisture supply is 40 DAP and earthing up (35 DAP) may be followed
by irrigation. During hot seasons, 12-14 irrigations are required at an interval of 10 days for heavy yield.
Interculture and Weed control
In the early stages of crop growth i.e., up to two months after planting, weeds are a problem to sweet potato.
Two manual weedings at 20 and 45 DAP are sufficient to keep the weeds under control. Fluchloralin @ 1.0
kg/ha in the soil as pre-planting to control the weeds is effective. Also, the application of chloramben @
3.0 kg/ha at the post-planting stage control the weeds.
Mulching can reduce weed emergence significantly and crop rotation also helps prevent the build-up of
weed populations. Intercropping two plant types together can reduce weed problems due to the increased
shade and crop competition with weeds through tighter crop spacing.

Intercultural Operations
The field should be kept clean by hand weeding till vines are fully developed. Earthing up/Hilling up is
done at second weeding to prevent exposure of roots (particularly during the rainy season). The vines are
lifted and turned after planting (30 DAP) but before earthing up to prevent root formation at nodes and to
make the originally formed roots larger.

Harvesting
Harvesting is done by digging out tuber with pick-axe when leaves turn yellow in colour. Maturity can be
ascertained by cutting the tuber and the latex from the mature tuber dries up without turning black. The
time of harvesting differs with cultivar which may extend from 120-180 days. Avoid mechanical injuries
while digging out tubers. Tubers are cleaned and packed in gunny bags for marketing.
Yield
Under rainfed conditions= 8-10 t/ha
Under irrigated conditions= 35-40 t/ha

Storage
Highly perishable nature of tubers of sweet potato does not permit it to be stored for a long period in the
tropics. Red skinned varieties store better than white-skinned varieties. Tubers are stored better at 13-16 0C
temp. and 85-90% R.H can be stored for 6-7 months if properly cured. Sweet potatoes were successfully
cured at RH 80- 90% and temperature 29-40̊C for 5-7 days. Tubers can also be stored for 2-3 months in a
pit covered with straw.
Processed Products
Different processing and utilization streams of sweet potatoes
Drying technologies applied to dehydrated sweet potato products
o Dehydrated Forms: Slices, Granules, Flakes, and Flour
Physiological disorders
1. Growth crack: Due to moisture imbalance
2. Water blisters (edema)
▪ Symptoms: Small lumps (enlarged lenticels) on the outside of the roots.
▪ Causes: Prolonged exposure of roots to very wet soils leading to lack of oxygen.
▪ Management: Plant sweet potato in well-drained soil and ensure ridges or mounds are high in
wetlands

3. Sun scalding
▪ Symptoms: Scalded areas are purplish-brown and prone to secondary infections
▪ Causes: Exposure of roots to direct sun at high temperatures
▪ Management: Proper earthing up & place sweet potato roots in shade immediately after harvest

4. Symptoms of Nitrogen (N) deficiency

Symptoms:
▪ Leaves become light green to yellowish and dull in appearance
▪ Reduced growth of the vine
▪ Old leaves become reddish at the edges, yellowish in the middle, then reddish to brown all over
▪ Short petioles
▪ Symptoms develop from the base of the plant to the top
Diseases and insect -pest
❖ Stem Rot or Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. batatus)
❖ Black rot (Certocytis fimbriata)
❖ Cercospora leaf spot ( Cercospora bataticola)
❖ Soil rot (Streptomyces ipomoea)
❖ Scurf (Monilochaetes infuscans)
❖ Soft rot (Rhizopus nigricans or Rhizopus stolonifer), (Most widely distributed and commonly
occurring storage disease)
❖ Pox and scurf is a disease severe in neutral and high pH.
1. Stem Rot or Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. batatus)
Symptoms:
➢ Leaves become yellow along with discolouration of vascular bundles.
➢ The fungus infects tuber and causes circular shrunken spots.
Management:
➢ Use clean, healthy planting material
➢ Crop rotation
➢ Resistant varieties Diseases
2. Black rot (Certocytis fimbriata)
Symptoms:
➢ The yellow sickly appearance of foliage and black spot-on tubers.
Management:
➢ Use clean healthy planting material
➢ Dip cutting in 0.2% solution of Aretan or Agallol before planting.

3. Cercospora leaf spot (Cercospora bataticola)

Symptoms: Dark brown leaf spots with a light shade at the centre.
Management: Three spraying of 0.25% Dithane M-45 at fortnightly intervals is effective.

4. Soil rot (Streptomyces ipomoea)

Symptoms: Tuber infection starts as a spot and the skin collapses leaving cavities with irregular margins.
Management: Maintain Soil pH (5.2 or less)
5. Scurf (Monilochaetes infuscans)
Symptoms: Produces black spots of varying sizes and shapes on the tubers.
Management:
✓ Good drainage
✓ Application of sulphur @ 300-400 lb/acre to neutral soils.

6. Soft rot (Rhizopus nigricans)

Symptoms: Soft watery rot on tuber and fleshy tissue becomes soft and water exudes from affected skin
tissue becomes brownish.
Management:
✓ Proper temperature and a RH of 85-90% should be maintained.

Important Pests
1. Most widely occurring nematodes of sweet potato throughout the world
✰ Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita)
✰ Reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis).
▪ Shree Bhadra: Excellent trap crop for root-knot nematode
2. Most serious pest in sweet potato: Sweet Potato weevil (Cylas formicarius), monophagous pest, severe
damage in summer crop
• Adult weevil makes puncturing on vines and tubers.
• Grubs bore and feed by making tunnels. Even slightly damaged tubers are unsuitable for
consumption due to bitterness.
• Yield loss is up to 100% in severe cases.

Management
➢ Clean Cultivation
➢ Crop rotation
➢ Treatment of planting material with 0.05% Monocrotophos, spraying at the tri-weekly interval
from one month after planting.
Other pests are
o Stem borer
o Leaf feeding caterpillars
o Leaf feeding beetle
Production Constraints of Sweet Potato
❖ Quality planting material is not available for the nursery.
❖ Heavy attack of sweet potato weevil in crop.
❖ Proper breeding methods are not present foe their improvement.
❖ Proper storage conditions are not available.
❖ Growing of Primary or secondary nursery is hactic and more labour is required for
transplanting.