Abstract
A main characteristic of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas(L.) Lam.] is its high phenotypic and genotypic variability. There is no, or limited, information on suitability of agro-morphological characteristics for utilization in production and processing. Currrently, farmers are growing different sweet potato genotypes characterized with low yield. The aim of the study was to evaluate agro-morphological characteristics of 68 sweet potato genotypes in order to determine the best performing ones. The sweet potato genotypes were grown at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization and the Embu and Miyare Agriculture Training College. The locations were chosen because they are the main sweet potato producing areas with different climatic and production conditions. Six storage root and five aerial characters were used in the characterization. The genotypes differed in storage root stalk and root length; vine internode length and vine internode growth rate; petiole length and leaf size, and yield at both sites. Genotype Nyautenge was the best performing in terms of storage root yield. There was poor correlation among agro-morphological attributes. The study demonstrates the potential of some sweet potato genotypes such as Nyautenge for high productivity.
Highlights
Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is grown in many parts of East Africa because it is highly productive and requires little demand for input and labor for its cultivation [1]
The ANOVA analysis indicated that the main effects of site and genotype affected all agromorphological variables except vine internode length (VIL), vine internode diameter (VID), storage root cortex thickness (SRCT), mature leaf size (MLS), petiole length and weight of the largest root (WLR) which not significant between sites (Table 3), and there was no significant interaction between sites and genotype
Genotypes from ACT-Miyare had longer vine growth rate (VGR) compared with KALRO-Embu
Summary
Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] is grown in many parts of East Africa because it is highly productive and requires little demand for input and labor for its cultivation [1]. Sweet potato is a cheap and valuable source of vitamin A, is a good source of calcium and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and provides more edible energy than other staple foods. These characteristics make this crop suitable and attractive to farmers with limited resources [2]. The wider the genetic variability in traits, the better the chances of improvement through selection [3]. Analysis of genotypes at the genetic level provides more information on genetic relationships which, along with agro-morphological traits, will be helpful in guiding breeding for improvement in sweet potato. Characterization of crops is valuable for providing complete information on the characteristics of given germplasm, thereby contributing to optimal management of collections [4]
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