Assessing the Productivity, Quality and Profitability of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Grown in Riverbank of the Tista Floodplain Agro-Ecological Zone of Bangladesh

Abdullah-Al Mahmud,Md Samim Hossain Molla,Simon Heck,Md Jahangir Alam,E H M Shofiur Rahaman,Wolfgang J Grüneberg,Md Nurul Amin,Ahmed Gaber,Md Al-Amin Hossain Talukder,Debashish Chanda,Akbar Hossain,Md Akkas Ali,Majid Alhomrani,Md Mazharul Anwar

doi:10.3390/agronomy11102046

Abstract

Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are desirable for high productivity and profitability and their distribution to improve the nutrition of river bank inhabitants of Gaibandha and Rangpur districts of Bangladesh. In this context, a field trial was conducted in two riverbank-based farmers’ fields such as Saghata, Gaibandha, and Pirganj, Rangpur, particularly in the Active Tista Floodplain Agro-ecological Zone of Bangladesh. Four OFSP varieties were evaluated, i.e., G1: BARI SP-8; G2: BARI SP-12; G3: BARI SP-14; G4: BARI SP-15, along with one local cultivar as a control (Red skin with white flesh). Significant variations among the sweet potato genotypes were noted for a number of tuberous roots plant−1, length of root diameter of roots, tuberous root weight plant−1, root yield (fresh), root yield (dry), beta-carotene yield, as well as energy output. Over the locations, BARI SP-12 produced about 73% higher root yield (32.00 t ha−1) and it was like the BARI SP-8 (31.07 t ha−1), which produced about 68% higher yield in comparison with local cultivar (18.51 t ha−1). Across the location, BARI SP-8 performed better in root yield (31.89 t ha−1) in Gaibandha, 69% superior to local cultivar, whereas BARI SP-12 performed better in Rangpur (33.66 t ha−1), which was 86% greater than the local sweet potato cultivar. Considering the root dry yield production, BARI SP-8 produced the highest in the Gaibandha location after that Rangpur location. Further, BARI SP-14 had wider adaptability and stability over the year and location depended on the AMMI model. The beta carotene yield (Vitamin-A precursor) ranged 336–2957 kg ha−1 among the OFSP varieties, whereas the highest (2957 kg ha−1) carotene was recorded in BARI SP-14, similar to BARI SP-15 (2952 kg ha−1) but was much lower in BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12. Moreover, BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12 were also economically profitable in terms of gross margin (3233 and 3364 US$ ha−1, respectively), net return (3039 and 3170 US$ ha−1, respectively) and BCR (3.21 and 3.31, respectively, vs. 1.91) due to higher returns with a similar production cost of the local cultivar. The results suggested that BARI SP-8 is economically profitable in the riverbank areas of Gaibandha, and BARI SP-12 is suitable for the riverbank areas of Rangpur.

Highlights

Sweet potato, a perennial root crop belonging to the family of Convolvulaceae, has several flesh colors [1,2]
The present study considered the performance of CIP-bred sweet potato varieties in the northern parts of Bangladesh and the impact on the economy of sweet potato cultivation in the Char area with the following objectives: (i) to assess the field performance and stability of Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) varieties at field level in riverbanks and riverine islands; (ii) to calculate the cost and income of sweet potato cultivation at the farm level
The average tuberous root plant−1 of sweet potato varieties were ranged from 3.29 to 5.16 plant−1 where the lowest tuberous root was observed in the local variety and the highest was from

Summary

Introduction

A perennial root crop belonging to the family of Convolvulaceae, has several flesh colors (white, yellow, cream, purple and orange) [1,2]. The orange, white and cream flesh sweet potatoes are commonly cultivated and consumed. It is the seventh most important crop in the world [3,4]. The most commonly edible parts of the sweet potatoes are the tuberous roots, while the leaves are important [1,2] and an important staple food across the Asian, African and Pacific region countries of the world. Sweet potato is being used as cattle feed [1,6,7]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion