Tuber Quality Yield Sweet Potato Varieties 2007 1 
GLADSTONE ROAD AGRICULTURAL CENTRE
CROP RESEARCH REPORT NO. 1
TUBER QUALITY AND YIELD OF FOUR SWEET POTATO
VARIETIES EVALUATED DURING 2007
Kenneth VA Richardson
Department of Agriculture
Nassau, Bahamas
November 2009
ABSTRACT
A variety trial was conducted on four sweet potato varieties from April to October
2007 at the Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre. The variety ‘Six Weeks’, which is an early maturing variety with white flesh and high dry matter content, produced the highest marketable yield at 9.4 t/ha. One other early maturing variety, ‘Antigua’, yielded 7.3 t/ha and is also suitable for local production. The other two varieties are late maturing varieties and produced very low yields after six months of growth.
Introduction:
Sweet potato is an important crop commercially, constituting one of the world’s most important carbohydrate food sources (Villareal, 1982). It is one of the world’s highest yielding crops with total food production exceeding that of rice. As a crop, this plant species has a great potential for development because of its relatively short growing season and high nutritional value, compared to other starchy food sources. It also has a great potential for supporting agriculture on those areas affected by adverse growing conditions such as drought and saline soils. The sweet potato yields reasonably well, even in soils of low fertility.
The sweet potato is one of the more important staple food crops in the Bahamas and is grown primarily for the fresh market. Production has not been exploited to its fullest extent, however. In the northern Bahamas there has been a significant increase in the acreage planted, using improved sweet potato varieties. Varieties planted in the southeastern Bahamas are generally rainfed, with little or no supplemental irrigation.
Generally, a crop may reach maturity within six to eight months, while many of the varieties grown in the southern islands take up to ten months to develop mature tubers.
Early maturing
CROP RESEARCH REPORT NO. 1
TUBER QUALITY AND YIELD OF FOUR SWEET POTATO
VARIETIES EVALUATED DURING 2007
Kenneth VA Richardson
Department of Agriculture
Nassau, Bahamas
November 2009
ABSTRACT
A variety trial was conducted on four sweet potato varieties from April to October
2007 at the Gladstone Road Agricultural Centre. The variety ‘Six Weeks’, which is an early maturing variety with white flesh and high dry matter content, produced the highest marketable yield at 9.4 t/ha. One other early maturing variety, ‘Antigua’, yielded 7.3 t/ha and is also suitable for local production. The other two varieties are late maturing varieties and produced very low yields after six months of growth.
Introduction:
Sweet potato is an important crop commercially, constituting one of the world’s most important carbohydrate food sources (Villareal, 1982). It is one of the world’s highest yielding crops with total food production exceeding that of rice. As a crop, this plant species has a great potential for development because of its relatively short growing season and high nutritional value, compared to other starchy food sources. It also has a great potential for supporting agriculture on those areas affected by adverse growing conditions such as drought and saline soils. The sweet potato yields reasonably well, even in soils of low fertility.
The sweet potato is one of the more important staple food crops in the Bahamas and is grown primarily for the fresh market. Production has not been exploited to its fullest extent, however. In the northern Bahamas there has been a significant increase in the acreage planted, using improved sweet potato varieties. Varieties planted in the southeastern Bahamas are generally rainfed, with little or no supplemental irrigation.
Generally, a crop may reach maturity within six to eight months, while many of the varieties grown in the southern islands take up to ten months to develop mature tubers.
Early maturing
References: CIP - International Potato Centre (1996). Sweet potato facts: production, use, consumption, and feed use Gunadi, N. and Harris P. M. (2000). Performance of potatoes grown from true seed under different environmental conditions in West Java Martin, F. W. and Rhodes, A. M. (1983). Correlations among characteristics of sweet potato roots, and intraspecific grouping Neppl, G. P., Wehner, T. C. and Schulthers, J. R. (2003). Interaction of border and center rows of multiple row plants in watermelon yield trials Pardales Jr, J. R. and Belmonte Jr, D. V. (1989). Comparative Patterns of Dry Matter Production in Bushy and Spreading Sweet Potato Cultivars Romani, M., Borghi, B., Albercici, R., Delogu, G., Hesselbach, J. and Sclami, F. (1993). Villareal, R. L. (1982). Sweet potato in the tropics: progress and problems. In Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Sweet Potato