Next year is the 'International Year of the Potato'. Sweet potatoes,
often misunderstood, underrated and disliked by local populations as a
marginal food, are receiving new attention as a life-saving crop in
developing countries. Scientists conducted a survey to understand why the
sweet potato remains a relatively marginal crop, despite its large
potential.
The results offer an interesting insight into the reasons as to why
agriculture in many developing countries is so unproductive. If poor
countries were to apply modern farming techniques to produce food, an
enormous potential land base for the production of bioenergy becomes
available. Improved food production implies greater climate saving biomass
potential.

Rich in carbohydrates, the crop is already being used for the
production of ethanol and bioplastics. Several African countries have an
'industrial' sweet potato program in place. China considers it to be a
non-food crop and has therefor included it in its range of crops suitable
for the production of industrial products, including biofuels.

According to the International Potato Center, more than 95 percent of
the global sweetpotato crop is grown in developing countries, where it is
the fifth most important food crop. Despite its name, the sweetpotato is not
related to the potato. Potatoes are tubers (referring to their thickened
stems) and members of the Solanaceae family, which also includes tomatoes,
red peppers, and eggplant. Sweetpotatoes are classified as "storage roots"
and belong to the morning-glory family.

Sweetpotato has received relative little attention from crop
improvement research. To bring attention to the issue, results of a survey
were published by the American Society for Horticultural Science in which
researchers asked 36 scientists from 21 developing countries to solicit
opinions on key constraints affecting the productivity of small sweetpotato
producers.

Keith Fuglie, of the Resources and Rural Economics Division at the
United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, led the
study. He found consistent key constraints in all major sweetpotato
producing areas.

Survey respondents indicated that the priority needs in developing
countries were:

1. control of viruses
2. small-enterprise development for sweetpotato processing
3. improvement in availability and quality of sweetpotato planting
material
4. improved cultivars exhibiting high and stable yield potential

Some differences emerged, however, in priority needs of the two major
centers of sweetpotato production - Sub-Saharan Africa and China. In the
People's Republic, the crop is primarily used as an animal feed, whereas in
Africa, it is a major food crop.

Additional priorities for Sub-Saharan Africa included (1) improved
control of the sweetpotato weevil and (2) cultivars with high beta carotene
content to address Vitamin A deficiency. For China, priorities included: (1)
conservation and characterization of genetic resources, (2) prebreeding, (3)
cultivars with high starch yield, and (4) new product development, including
biofuels and bioplastics.According to Fuglie, the different sets of
priorities reflect differences in the role of sweetpotato in the rural
economy and also different capacities of the agricultural research system in
these regions of the world.

These findings could help agricultural scientists working for national
and international institutions establish their priorities for sweet potato
crop improvement research. Focusing research on the key productivity
constraints facing sweetpotato farmers in a particular country or region
will increase the likelihood of farmer adoption and potential impact of the
technology resulting from that research. - Keith Fuglie, lead researcher,
Resources and Rural Economics Division, ARS

Principal beneficiaries of the research study will be small-scale
sweet potato farmers in developing countries. Fuglie hopes that emerging
technologies based on research will be available for sweetpotato farmers
within 5 to 10 years.

Scientists believe that sweetpotatoes were domesticated more than
5,000 years ago and reportedly introduced into China in the late 16th
century. Because of its hardy nature and broad adaptability, sweetpotato
spread through Asia, Africa, and Latin America during the 17th and 18th
centuries. It is now grown in more developing countries than any other root
crop.

Sweetpotato has a long history as a lifesaving crop. When typhoons
demolished thousands of rice fields, Japanese farmers turned to sweetpotato
to sustain their country. Sweetpotato kept millions from starvation in
famine-plagued China in the early 1960s, and in Uganda, where a virus
ravaged cassava crops in the 1990s, the hardy hero came to the rescue,
nourishing millions in rural communities.

Rich in carbohydrates and vitamin A, sweetpotatoes are nutrition
superstars. Uses range from consumption of fresh roots or leaves to
processing into animal feed, starch, flour, candy and alcohol. Because of
its versatility and adaptability, sweetpotato ranks as the world's seventh
most important food crop (following wheat, rice, maize, potato, barley, and
cassava). Globally, more than 133 million tons of the underrated,
vitamin-packed root are produced each year.

[biopact.com]