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Sweet Potato Production Guide

The Sweet Potato Production Guide provides comprehensive information on growing sweet potatoes in Zimbabwe, highlighting their nutritional benefits and minimal disease issues. It details soil and climatic requirements, planting techniques, pest and disease management, and post-harvest practices including curing and storage. Various sweet potato varieties are discussed, along with recommendations for optimal yields and quality preservation.

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43 views

Sweet Potato Production Guide

The Sweet Potato Production Guide provides comprehensive information on growing sweet potatoes in Zimbabwe, highlighting their nutritional benefits and minimal disease issues. It details soil and climatic requirements, planting techniques, pest and disease management, and post-harvest practices including curing and storage. Various sweet potato varieties are discussed, along with recommendations for optimal yields and quality preservation.

Uploaded by

bmoyo0023
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION GUIDE

Introduction

1 | Sweet Potato Production Guide


The sweet potato is a popular household and traditional food crop in Zimbabwe. It is
an excellent source of carbohydrates, vitamin A, carotene, calcium, phosphorus,
thiamine and iron. Its advantages include minimal disease and pest problems, short
season requirement, easy to grow and grows in a wide range of soils.

Botany

Common name: Sweet potato, Mbambayira (Shona), Imbambayila (Ndebele)


Botanical name: Ipomoea batatas L.
Family: Convolvulaceae (morning glory family)
Origin: Tropical America (cultivated by pre-Inca farmers)

Typical sweet potato flower, colour varies Sweet potato tubers

Varieties
Chingovha Germany 2 (Zadzangoro)

1. Cream skin and flesh 1. Red skinned and white flesh


2. Has long starchy tubers 2. Early maturing-2-4 months
3. Early maturing-3-4 months 3. Yields up to up to 70 t/ha
4. Yields up to 60-70 t/ha 4. Very popular variety
5. Very popular in Zimbabwe

Brondal

1. Light red skin and cream flesh


2. Cylindrical big tubers
3. Yields up to +80 t/ha
4. Poor cooking integrity

Varieties for consideration

2 | Sweet Potato Production Guide


Growing Sweet Potatoes

Soil and climatic requirements


Sweet potato can be grown in a wide range of soils, but the best soil types should
be well-drained, fine sandy, or clay loams. Poorly drained, heavy soils with clay
result in irregularly sized and misshapen tubers. The sweet potato plant does not
thrive on highly acid soils and the most desirable pH range is between 5.0 and 6.5.
On soils with a pH below 5.0, lime must be applied and dolomitic limestone should
be given preference. Soil testing is recommended before planting and this can be
done at Kutsaga Research Station at a nominal cost. The crop can be planted
throughout the year but the ideal planting time for maximum yield is at the onset of
the rainy season or immediately after the rainy season when soil is still moist. Avoid
winter production when the location is prone to frost. Rainfall can range from 600 –
1 000 mm.

Planting material
Sweet potatoes can be propagated from tissue culture plantlets, small tuber sprouts
or vine cuttings (slips). Select healthy, vigorous slips free from pests and diseases.
Planting material available to most sweet potato farmers is often of poor quality;
however, pest and disease free sweet potato plantlets and vines can be obtained at
Kutsaga Research Station. Plantlets are produced through tissue culture in the
laboratory which ensures elimination of insect pests and disease pathogens; and
vines are produced hygienically in the greenhouse. Every sweet potato grower
should therefore strive to get this type of material every three years for sustained
yields. When slips are used, they should be 30-40 cm long with approximately eight
nodes.

Kutsaga tissue culture sweet potato plantlets Sprouting tubers to produce slips

Planting and fertilization


Planting can be done on the flat in furrows and later mounds can be constructed to
facilitate good tuber growth. Planting can also be done directly into mounds 30-40
cm high. The intra row spacing should be 20-30 cm with a ridge centre spacing of
90 cm. A wider spacing can be used for lower rainfall areas. Set two thirds of slips
into the soil at an angle of 45°. The optimum plant population is 40 000 per hectare.
Terminal cuttings/slips tend to produce the highest yields. Early planting is

3 | Sweet Potato Production Guide


recommended for lower rainfall areas (less than 800 mm). On farms with irrigation
and no frost occurrence, production can be done all-year round. When irrigation is
used, avoid overwatering at later growth stages because this results in extensive
vine growth at the expense of tuber development.

The recommended fertilizer rate will depend on soil analysis, however, as a general
recommendation, apply 300 kg per hectare of compound ‘D’ (7:14:7) at planting or
the alternative, double ‘D’ (14:28:14) at 150 kg per hectare. The use of compost or
organic fertilizers is highly recommended. Moderate amounts of nitrogen are
required as excessive amounts may encourage rank growth and result in cracked
and misshapen roots and poor storage quality. Apply up to 100 kg AN/ha at or
before 45 days after planting.

Young sweet potato crop Mature sweet potato crop

Weed management
Keep the crop weed-free throughout the season. Pre-emergent herbicides such as
Carfentrazone (Aim), Clomazone (Command) and S-Metolachlor can be used, while
Clethodim (Select), Fluazifop (Fusilade) and Sethoxydim (Poast) can be used as post
emergent herbicides.
Pest control
Pest Damage description Control
Sweet -Adult weevil tunnels tubers -Use weevil-free (adult and
potato resulting in secondary bacterial and larvae) material.
weevil fungal infection. -Rotate crops.
-The adult female bores into the
(Most stem or root and deposits eggs -Insecticides: Carbaryl (Sevin),
important under the surface. Endosulfan, Imidan (Phosmet)
pest) - Hatched larvae feed on tubers until
pupation.
Nematodes -Attack roots -Use resistant varieties.
- Fumigants such as EDB or
post-plant nematicides like
Fenamiphos and Oxamyl can
be used.
Aphids, leaf -Virus transmission and leaf damage -Actara (Thiamethoxam),
eaters, Imidachloprid, acetamiprid,
caterpillars, Cyfluthrin, Malathion
leaf miner

NB: Ensure tubers are always covered with soil to minimize infestation by the sweet
potato weevil.

4 | Sweet Potato Production Guide


Common diseases
The most important sweet potato diseases attack the roots; however, fungal leaf
spots and lesions are common but rarely warrant any measures.

Silver scurf - Helminthosporium solani, fungus


Silver scurf is relatively common on tubers. A fine coating of dark green to black
spores, visible to the naked eye only in mass, can sometimes be seen on the
surface of infected tubers that have been stored under conditions of high humidity.
These patches may cover a large portion of the tuber and are caused by air space,
which results from growth of the fungus beneath the tuber periderm. Symptoms can
be difficult to detect on some white–skinned cultivars, but are obvious on those with
red skin.

Silver scurf Ring rot


Ring rot – This is caused by the common, soil-borne fungus Pythium spp., which
also parasitizes many other plants. Infected roots have sunken, chocolate colored
lesions that tend to extend laterally and often form a ring around the sweet potato.
The soft rot extends into the interior as illustrated in the picture above. Losses
generally occur late in the season during cool, rainy periods. Symptons may be
confused with Rhizopus and bacterial soft rots and souring. Ring rot usually does
not spread in storage. To manage this disease harvest prior to cool, wet periods.

Common disorders

Growth cracks are caused by uneven growing conditions and are sometimes
associated with secondary disease problems. Cracks are most common on large
roots and on nematode-infested roots. Certain viruses also increase cracking.
Chilling injury - Sweet potatoes stored at temperatures below 10 oC may appear
normal, but internally, the flesh may be spongy with dark vascular elements and
latex does not flow. When tubers are cooked, the core of the root may be hard.
Chilling injury is cumulative and intermittent exposure to low temperatures
aggravates the problem.
Chimeras -Sweet potatoes have an unusually high rate of mutation. Multi-coloured
roots, called chimeras, have variegated skin or flesh.

Harvesting
Lifting can commence from 120 days after planting depending on the cultivar;
check to see if tubers are ready for harvest before the operation. When tubers are
ready for lifting the cut surface dries to a white colour. Minimize tuber damage at
harvesting to ensure good storability if long term storage is required.

5 | Sweet Potato Production Guide


Place harvested tubers in open shaded area for 2-3 days to suberize (curing). For
home consumption, dig up tubers when required. Tubers can also be stored in a
covered pit lined with grass after digging them up.

Curing
Most roots are cured immediately after harvest to improve flavor and storage life.
Curing heals cuts and reduces decay and shrinkage in storage because it allows the
periderm to thicken and to reform. The process also converts starches to sugars,
enhancing flavor and taste. Start curing within 1 to 2 hours of harvest and continue
for 4 to 7 days at about 25oC at 90 to 95% relative humidity and ample ventilation.
Avoid rooms with 100% relative humidity as these wet the tuber surface resulting in
more storage diseases. Once they are cured, store in a cool, dry place until ready to
cook. Sweet potatoes can be stored for up to 12 months with little reduction in
quality.

Storage
Long-term storage areas should be maintained at 10-15 oCand at 85% relative
humidity, with sufficient ventilation. At higher temperatures internal breakdown,
shrinking and sprouting may occur. Temperatures below 10 oC may cause hardcore
(chilling injury). Properly cured and stored sweet potatoes have a shelf life of up to
12 months with insignificant quality loss. Shrinkage occurs at 1 to 2% per month if
cured and 2 to 5% if uncured. In some cultivars, pithiness also increases with
storage period.

6 | Sweet Potato Production Guide

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