Sweet Potato
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are already the 6th or 7th most produced food crop in the world, surpassed only by wheat, rice, corn, potato, barley, and possibly cassava. Among the reasons that sweet potato is a great crop is that it is relatively easy to grow, relatively free of pests and diseases, has relatively high productivity, and is always good food, principally starch, some protein and vitamin C, and, in orange varieties, rich in vitamin A. In addition, the young leaves, rich in protein and most vitamins, are also good food. Furthermore, the sweet potato is an excellent animal food.
Its ability to produce in poor soils makes the sweet potato an especially good crop for poor tropical soils where fertilizer is not available. If the leaves are also used as food, sweet potato will probably produce more nutrients per acre than almost any other crop under those conditions. (The other tropical crop that produces well on poor soils and also has both edible roots and leaves is cassava. It has an advantage over sweet potato in drought tolerance, but sweet potato has the advantage in nutrients. That is because substances called polyphenols in the cassava leaf combine with protein during cooking and reduce the amount of protein that is digestible.)
Nevertheless, like all crops the sweet potato must be produced with understanding in order to obtain maximum yields. It should never be treated with neglect.
--- TN #18
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Edible Portion: Tuber, Root, Leaves, Vegetable This is a root crop which produces long creeping vines. The leaves are carried singly along the vine. Leaves can vary considerably from divided like fingers on a hand to being entire and rounded or heart shaped. At the end of the vine, trumpet shaped...
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19-01-1988 Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are already the 6th or 7th most produced food crop in the world, surpassed onlyby wheat, rice, corn, potato, barley, and possibly cassava. Among the reasons that sweet potato is a great crop is that it is relatively easy to grow, relatively free of pests and...
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Key Resource16-02-2015 Tropical root and tuber crops are consumed as staples in parts of the tropics and should be considered for their potential to produce impressive yields in small spaces. They provide valuable options for producing food under challenging growing conditions. Cassava and taro, for instance, are...
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Available on: iOS Android Sweetpotato DiagNotes is an interactive tool for extension workers, students, researchers and others who want to learn about the crop; about the pest, disease and other problems that can occur; how to diagnose crop symptoms and what management practices can be used to...
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20-03-2000 A method to protect gardens from leaf cutter ants (Atta sp.) using sweet potatoes.
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19-11-1997 If I intercrop sweet potato with taller plants, how much will that reduce the productivity of the sweet potato?
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19-05-1998 Sweet potato produces tubers when it is STRESSED. That is why, in intercropping, it produces more leaves and fewer tubers.
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Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are among the seven most produced food crops in the world, surpassed only by wheat, rice, corn, potato, barley, and cassava (Franklin Martin, ECHO Technical Note) Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) are rich in vitamin A, which is very commonly deficient in...
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20-01-2009 Curing sweet potatoes right after harvest improves culinary quality and reduces postharvest losses caused by diseases and skinning. This practice, however, is seldom applied by growers in Mississippi suggesting suboptimal conditions and quality for marketing in addition to losses to postharvest...
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19-02-1983 Dr. Frank Martin is a research specialist in sweet potato breeding. He writes, "A persistent nagging question is why people don't eat and don't want to eat more sweet potatoes. We believe this is due to sweetness itself, as well as flavors and textures that are not liked. We developed a new...
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Abstract, Wiley, 2016 Rice straw and sweet potato vines are the main by‐products of agricultural crops, and their disposal creates problems for the environment in the south of China. In order to establish an easy method for making rice straw silage successfully, experiments were conduct to...
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Abstract, Food Security, 2019 Postharvest loss reduction throughout commodity value chains is an important pathway to food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa. However, lack of understanding of the location and share of the losses and associated factors along the postharvest value chains...
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26-11-2019 Session: Potatoes and sweet potatoes play a big role as a staple and nutritious food, as well as a source of farmer incomes in the densely populated highlands of sub-Saharan Africa. They are grown by small family farms mainly intercropped with beans and maize. Per capita, potato annual...
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Enhancing Sweet potatoes technologies in conservation agriculture using farmer field school approach
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Over the years the production of Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) as a commercial crop in Zimbabwe has been increasing due to its numerous advantages as compared to other root and tuber crops. The crop has minimal input requirements yet yields highly. Sweet potatoes store well and can be a famine...
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Topics included in this presentation include: Botany Climate Requirements Soil Requirements land Preparation Land Preparation Planting Disease Control Harvesting
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The sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas, morning-glory family, Convolvulaceae) is an enlarged storage root that comes in various shapes, sizes, and colors. Varieties, particularly those used for market use, are classified as “dry-fleshed” or “moist-fleshed,” according to the feel sensation experienced...
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This is one of two booklets in the Better Farming Series devoted to te use and processing of cassava and sweet potatoes for animal feeding. It describing various ways of feeding different parts of the plants (roots, peels, and foliage) in several forms (fresh, dried, in meal or silage) to...
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The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. (LamK) seemed to have originated in Tropical America, but, the exact location is not known. This crop is now grown throughout the tropics for its edible tubers, which are an important food source in many countries. Guyana is one of the tropical countries in...
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This book is a partial output of a project entitled "Production and provision of pathogen-free, high quality sweet potato seed-stock for small holder farmers in Hwedza and Nuhera Districts" (ZBF 0009815) funded by the Biotechnology Trust of Zimbabwe (BTZ).
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The terms “sweet potato” and “yam” are often used interchangeably; however, they are actually two entirely different crops. Only sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are grown in the U.S.; yams (Dioscorea spp.) are grown in the Caribbean and many other tropical areas.
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Sweet Potato is a dicotyledonous plant belonging to the family convolvulaceae. It is a perennial vine adaptable to different agro-ecological zones. It is widely grown on a small scale mainly in subsistence farming. The tubers are a rich source of the flavonoid anti-oxidants, vitamin A, dietary...
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Production Requirements & Costs for 1 ha of Sweet Potatoes
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Recipes Covered in this Cookbook include: Appetizers Beverages Soups Salads Breads Breakfasts Main Dishes Desserts Friendship Recipes Around the World
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Sweet Potatoes are generally an easy crop to farm due to their low capital intensity and applicability on small tracts of land. There are two broad categories of sweet Potatoes which are as follows: The staple type with white flesh and white or purple skin has a high starch and dry matter...
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The International Potato Center (CIP) was founded in 1971 as a research-for-development organization with a focus on potato, sweetpotato and andean roots and tubers. It delivers innovative science-based solutions to enhance access to affordable nutritious food, foster inclusive sustainable...
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01-01-2007 This 8-page fold-out leaflet, practical for use in the field and easy to read, covers the subject of making sweet potato chips and flour. It gives some background information, outlines the processes and provides tips, tables and explanatory line drawings.
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Some reports shows that sweet potatoes are already the 6th or 7th most produced food crop in the world, surpassed only by wheat, rice, corn, potato, barley, and cassava. Among the reasons that sweet potato is a great crop is that it is relatively easy to grow, relatively free of pests and...
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That sweet, orange-colored root vegetable that you love so dearly is actually a sweetpotato. Yes, all so-called “yams” are in fact sweetpotatoes. Most people think that long, red-skinned sweetpotatoes are yams, but they really are just one of many varieties of sweetpotatoes. So where did all of...
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01-01-1984 Root crops is a general term commonly used for a wide variety of food plants that have an underground storage organ known as a root, tuber (rhizome), corm, or bulb. Root crops are rich in starch, and low in protein and oil. They are excellent sources of calories. Some are consumed as major...
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