Sweet potato

Where does Sweet potato grow?

Found in: Africa, Andes, Angola, Asia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bolivia, Bougainville, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Terr., BIOT, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Camote, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Cari, Central Africa, Central America, China, Colombia, Congo DR, Congo R, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Africa, East Timor, Easter Island, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Laos, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mariana Islands, Marquesas, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mediterranean, Mexico, Micronesia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Pohnpei, Polynesia, Puerto Rico, Rotuma, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sikkim, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St Helena, St Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, United States, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wallis & Futuna, West Africa, West Indies, West Papua, West Timor, Yap, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Notes: There are about 500 Ipomoea species. The young shoots contained 25.03 mg alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E)per 100 g.

Status: It is a commercially cultivated vegetable. This is the most important food plant in Papua New Guinea. It is particularly important in highland grassland areas. In the world it is the seventh largest food crop.

Growing Sweet potato

Cultivation: Vine cuttings are used for planting. In grassland soils it is grown in mounds, ridges or other raised beds. In bush fallow, it is mostly planted in undug loose soils. It needs a sunny position. Tubers won't form if the ground is waterlogged when tubers start to develop. Sweet potato is grown by cuttings of the vine. About 33,000 cuttings are required per hectare. These weigh about 500 kg. Vine lengths of about 30 cm are optimum. As long as the vine is adequately inserted in the soil, the length of vine inserted does not significantly affect yield. Fresh sweet potato seeds germinate relatively easily and lead to continuous production of new cultivars under tropical conditions. Excess nitrogen restricts storage root initiation and therefore excess leaves are produced without significant tuber yield. Dry matter percentage increases with increasing age of the crop. Higher dry matter tubers are normally preferred. Sweet potato are not tolerant to shading. Under shaded conditions, both foliage growth and storage root production are decreased. Some cultivars can be selected for increased production under mild shade but not heavy shade. The survival of cuttings at planting is also reduced under shaded conditions. Under shaded conditions plant become more climbing and with fewer leaves which are however larger. With increasing shade less tubers are produced and these grow more slowly. Sweet potato tends to be responsive to potassium fertiliser. Cultivars are often selected for yield under low fertility conditions. Under lowland conditions in the tropics sweet potato tubers undergo active tuber enlargement from 6 to 16 weeks. Weed control is essential especially during early stages of growth. The rate of ground coverage by foliage varies greatly with growing conditions and cultivar but once ground coverage has occurred weed control is less of a problem. Sweet potato tuber initiation is subject to aeration in the soil. Either heavy clay soils, waterlogged conditions or other factors reducing aeration can result in poor tuber production. For this reason sweet potatoes are often grown on mounded beds. In well drained or high organic matter soils digging or mounding is not as essential. Leaf scab (Elsinoe batatas) can significantly reduce yield especially in sites where leaf production is low due to low soil fertility. To reduce sweet potato weevil damage plants need to be hilled or have the tubers well covered with soil. Cracking soils can allow the weevil access to tubers.

Edible Uses: Tubers are boiled or baked. They can be steamed, fried, mashed or dried. They can be fermented into alcoholic drinks. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer. They can also be used in pies, cakes, puddings and candies and jams. They can be used in noodles. The chopped and dried tubers can be boiled with rice or ground into flour and mixed with wheat flour to make cakes or bread. The young leaves are edible.

Production: The time to maturity ranges from 5 months to 12 months depending on the variety planted and the altitude at which it is being grown. Yields range from 6-23 t/ha.

Nutrition Info

Sweet potato Photos

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