Assessment of four sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) varieties for adaptability and productivity in Iwo, Osun State.

Abstract

Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent especially in sub-Saharan Africa because most available food contains negligible amounts of beta-carotene which fail to meet the physiological requirements resulting in the impairment by high rates of infection. However, introducing orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivar with high ß –carotene will help eradicate the problem of vitamin A deficiency, malnutrition and food insecurity in Iwo, Nigeria. Aim: Therefore, the primary goal of this project is to enhance food security and smallholder farmers’ income including women and young people in Iwo by introducing orange-fleshed sweet potato with high nutritional values. The varieties used were: Mother’s delight (V1), King J (V2), Iwo I (V3) and Iwo II (V4). The field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State from July to October 2017. Data were taken on leaf length, leaf breadth, petiole length, plant height and tuber yield (kg). V4 had the highest number of tubers per row (17) although, it was not statistically different (P<0.05) from V1 which gave the lowest number of tubers per row (14.25). V2 had the most extended petiole length of 32.06cm, and it was statistically different (P<0.01) from the remaining three potato varieties under evaluation. V3 was the highest yielding variety with a tuber yield of 2.93kg, but it was not statistically different (P<0.05) from V1 which had the lowest tuber yield (2.05kg). V1 (an orange-fleshed variety) had the relatively lowest number of tubers per row but gave tuber yields (2.05kg) comparable with the highest yielding variety (V3 = 2.93kg), which is a locally cultivated and adapted variety. It can be concluded that the introduced ranges were similar in performance to the adapted landraces. It is recommended that the introduced varieties (specifically V1, the orange-fleshed potato) be adopted by the farmers for cultivation as the performance of both introduced varieties was significantly compared with the landraces cultivated by Iwo farmers.