Morpho-agronomic characterization of sweet potato germplasm

Abstract

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) spreads mainly by vegetative propagation, and therefore this vegetable may have duplicate accessions in germplasm banks. The authors aimed to characterize morpho-agronomically the sweet potato germplasm from the Active Germplasm Bank (AGB) of Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS). The experiment was carried out at the Research Farm "Campus Rural da UFS". The experimental design was a randomized block design, testing 73 sweet potato accessions with two replicates and four plants per plot. Morpho-agronomic traits of aboveground part and roots were evaluated. We observed that the leaf lobe type, the number of lobes per leaf, shape of central lobe, and general leaf shape were traits which provided the most variability among the accessions. For damage caused by soil insects, 52 accessions showed tolerance. The accessions presented a range from 0.33 to 2.71 t/ha for dry mass of aboveground part and from 1.20 to 10.89 t/ha for the total productivity of the roots. The high phenotypic variability of this crop shows good prospect for breeding programs.

Nitrogen Fixing and Phosphate Mineralizing Bacterial Communities in Sweet Potato Rhizosphere Show a Genotype-Dependent Distribution

“…It has longer branches and a shorter length between nodes, and the use of its aerial part for animal feed purposes has been suggested. Other morpho-agronomic traits, including the dry mass of aboveground part and the total productivity of the roots, were presented in Alves, et al [26].…”

“…The genotypes were planted in three replicate rows (randomized block design) in the experimental plot with spaces of 0.8 m between the rows and 0.35 m between plants. All of the cultural management processes used were those described in Alves, et al [26]. After three (t1, _3M) and six (t2, _6M) months, sweet potato plants with similar plant growth developmental stages were randomly harvested from the research farm soil.…”

Assessment of the magnitude of genetic diversity among sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) accessions collected from Nigeria and Niger based on agro- morphological and nutritional attributes

“…Across sweetpotato cultivars and within the same cultivar, as well as between individual plants, there is a great deal of variation in tuber yields that is determined by the cultivar itself, the origin of the propagation material, environment, and soil conditions 11 . 12 showed that although sweetpotatoes exhibit considerable genetic variety, essential genotypes have been lost due to changes in eating habits and a lack of research. It is still necessary to create and introduce new, high-yielding varieties of sweetpotatoes with high dry matter and beta-carotene concentration 13 .…”