How To Plant A Sweet Potato

 

How To Plant A Sweet Potato

Botanical Name :  Ipomea batatas

Family : Convolvulaceae

Chromosome No.  : 2 n = 90 

                                                                               

Sweet potato is the main crop of tropical and subtropical countries in the world. Sweet potato is also known as white potato or Irish potato. It is cultivated all over India, however, its maximum production is in Orissa. After this comes Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

Apart from being a vegetable, the roots of sweet potato are also used in the manufacture of starch and alcohol. The lower grade tubers and vines are fed to animals. Sweet potato is eaten by boiling or roasting it. Some people also make halwa from it. Apart from this, chaat is also made from it. Some such varieties of it have also been developed in America, whose leaves are used to make vegetables.

     Sweet Potato Plant Growing UK     

Nutritive value - Its food value is shown in the table—

                                        (Nutrition Value of Sweet Potato per 100 gm)

Moisture                       : 68.50 g Fat                                 : 0.3 g Protein                          : 1.2 g Fiber                             : 0.8 g Minerals                       : 1.0 g Other Carbohydrates : 28.20 g Riboflavin                     : 0.04 mg Phosphorus                   : 50.00 mg Sodium                          : 9.0 mg Calcium                         : 2.80 mg Potassium                      : 393.0 mg Thiamine                       : 0.08 mg Nicotinic Acid               : 0.07 mg Vitamin C                     : 24.00 mg Vitamin A                    : 10.00 IU Calories                       : 120.00

Varieties

Sweet potato varieties are classified on the basis of the colour of the peel and pulp. Usually the peel is white, red, yellow and purple and the pulp is white, red, yellow or orange. The main varieties grown in India are described below—

1. Desi Varieties

Pusa Lal – This variety is ready in about 120 days. The peel of the tuber is red and the pulp is white. This variety is suitable for growing in the plains of North India.

Pusa Safed – This variety is ready in about 125 days. The peel and pulp of this variety are white in colour. It gives a yield of up to 235-378 quintals per hectare.

Pusa Sunhari – Its tubers are golden yellow from inside, in which carotene is found in abundance. This variety is found suitable for cultivation in the plains and mountainous regions of northern India.

H. 41 - This variety is ready in 3-4-5 months. The tubers are 26-30 cm long and 15-20 cm wide. It gives 270 quintals of yield per hectare. It is a suitable variety for cultivation in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Karnataka.

H. 42 - The tubers of this variety are of medium size. Their peel is pink and the pulp is white. The storage capacity of this variety is very good. The infestation of insects on its tubers is also less.

Bhuwan Sankar - This is a high yielding hybrid variety. It is a suitable variety for cultivation in Orissa.

Rajendra Sakarkand - 5 - This is a high yielding variety. This variety is tolerant to "Dhun". It is a suitable variety for growing in Bihar, West Bengal.

Rajendra Sakarkand - 35 - It is a high yielding variety. It is a suitable variety for growing in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Karnataka.

Co C. I. P. -1 - It is an early variety which is ready in 95-110 days. The colour of its tubers is pink and the pulp is light yellow. It gives a yield of 23.45 tonnes per hectare.

Kalmegh - It is a high yielding variety. It is a suitable variety for growing in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Konkan Ashwani - It is a high yielding variety. It is a suitable variety for growing in both Kharif and Rabi seasons in Konkan region.

Rajendra Shakarkand - 43 - This is a high yielding variety. It is moderately resistant to Cercospora leaf spot disease and tolerant to mites. It is suitable for growing in Assam, West Bengal, Karnataka.

Rajendra Shakarkand - 47 - This is a high yielding variety. It is tolerant to Cercospora leaf spot disease and mites. This variety is suitable for growing in Bihar.

Varsha - This is a high yielding variety. It is suitable for growing in Konkan region of Maharashtra.

       can you grow sweet potatoes at home

Other varieties – Samrat (Sanırat), Sree Nandini, Sree Vardhani, Sree Arun, Sree Varun, Sree Bhadra, Sree Ratna, K.B. 4, Sree Kanak are the main varieties.

2. Exotic varieties

Major varieties are Australian Canner, Gold 221, Heart-o-gold etc.

Climate - Sweet potato requires a warm, humid and long growing season. Humidity should be low at the time of ripening of roots.

22° Celsius temperature is optimum for its good growth. Photo-period also affects the production of sweet potato. Despite being a crop of warm and humid climate, it can be easily grown at places with an altitude of 1600-1900 meters above sea level. It cannot tolerate frost at all and the growth and development of plants is adversely affected if the temperature is less than 10° Celsius.

Soil - Sandy loam soil with proper drainage is considered the best for successful production of sweet potato. If the upper soil is sandy and the lower soil is somewhat heavy, then such soil is more suitable for the production of sweet potato. The pH value of the soil should be between 5.8-6.7. Land Preparation - For the development and growth of sweet potato, deep plowing of the land (25-30 cm) is very important. If plowing is done more than this, the roots grow downwards. Due to which they become thin and long. Sweet potato is grown on flats or ridges. Growing on ridges not only gives more yield, but also facilitates irrigation and digging and water drainage is also good.

Manure and Fertilizers - To get more yield of sweet potato, manure and fertilizers should be used with great understanding. Usually farmers apply nitrogenous fertilizers in large quantities in this crop, as a result of which the vegetative growth of vines is more and as a result the yield is reduced. It is appropriate to use manure and fertilizers on the basis of soil testing. Under average conditions, the following amount of manure and fertilizers should be added per hectare -

Farm Yard Manure: 10 tons

Nitrogen: 60 kg

Phosphorus: 60 kg

Potash: 100 kg

Cow dung manure should be spread evenly in the field before the first ploughing. Mix 1/2 pot of nitrogen with the full amount of phosphorus and potash and put it in the soil at the time of final ploughing. The remaining amount of nitrogen should be added as top dressing 30 days after transplantation.

By reducing the amount of nitrogen given in the soil by 1/3 and adding 2 kg of Azospirilium (4zospirilium) to the soil, more yield is obtained. In Bihar, by adding 12.5 kg of zinc sulphate per hectare at the time of field preparation, more yield is obtained.

Sowing

Seed rate - Sweet potato is propagated by vine cuttings. 60-90 cm long vine cuttings are used for transplantation. 50-60 thousand cuttings are required per hectare, which weigh 8-12 quintals.

Nursery - First, sweet potato tubers are sown in the nursery. Tubers are sown in May-June. Vines are ready in about a month. Then 60-90 cm shoots are cut from them. 80-100 kg of tubers are required to obtain vines for one hectare. Many sprouts are cut from each tuber.

Transplanting Time - In Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, planting is done in October-November. Whereas in North India, crops are harvested from cuttings obtained from tubers left in the soil at the time of digging of the previous crop, whereas doing so is not appropriate in scientific method.

The distance between rows and cuttings is kept 45-60 cm and 20-30 cm respectively. While planting the vine, the middle part of the cutting is pressed into the soil and the edges remain open or only one edge is kept open.

Irrigation - Light irrigation should be done immediately after planting. Second irrigation should be done after 8 weeks. For proper growth and development of crops, the level of moisture in the soil should remain constant. Therefore, if the weather is dry, irrigation should be done at an interval of 3 weeks. Generally, the crop planted in July does not require irrigation. If there is no rain for a long period, then irrigation should be done as per requirement.

Turning of Vines - Turning of vines is a very important task to get more yield of sweet potato because when nodes come in contact with the soil, roots come out from them and enter the soil, which turn into small sized thin tubers. As a result, the development and growth of main tubers is adversely affected. Therefore, to get high quality tubers of same size, vines are turned twice and earthing is done, doing this gives more yield.

Use of Plant Regulators - To get high quality and more yield of sweet potato, it is very important to use plant regulators. Spraying 250, 500 and 1000 ppm Ethephon on vines gives more yield of tubers.

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Crop Protection 

Weed Control

Many weeds grow along with the sweet potato crop, which causes a huge reduction in the yield. Therefore, to prevent weeds, weeding should be continued until the vines completely cover the field.

A drug called 2, 4-D can also be used for weed control.

Insect Control

Leaf Eating Caterpillar - This insect causes a lot of damage during the rainy season. This insect eats the leaves and makes them sieve-like, which hinders the production of food by the leaves.

The following measures should be taken for its prevention -

- Initially catch and destroy the caterpillars.

- Later, 0-03 percent Dimecron should be sprayed on the vines.

Sweet Potato Weevil - The scientific name of this insect is Cylas formicarius, which makes holes inside the vine or tuber and lays eggs, whose larvae take their food from the vines and tubers. Due to which cavities are formed in the tubers. Due to which 10-100 percent of tubers get destroyed. The tubers become bitter.

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The following measures should be taken to prevent this insect -

- Insect-infested plants and tubers should be destroyed.

- Before planting the cuttings, they should be treated with 1 percent solution of red arsonate and then planted.

- Vines should be sprayed with 0.05 percent solution of endosulfan at an interval of 15-20 days.

- It can be effectively controlled by putting 25 kg of thimet granules in the soil before planting. - This insect reproduces in stored tubers, hence 0.05% Malathion should be sprayed in the storage house.

- Hybrid varieties named H 41, H 42, H 371 and H 379 should be grown because all these varieties have been found to be quite resistant to its attack.

- Tubers and vines should be taken from disease free crop.

Other Insects - Gram borer, leaf eating beetle, brown caterpillar etc. also damage the sweet potato crop.

To prevent these insects, 0.05% Monocrotophos should be sprayed.

How To Plant A Sweet Potato

Disease Control

Stem rot - This disease is caused by a fungus called 'Furarium sporum f. batatas'. This is a dangerous disease. In this, the color between the veins of the leaves turns yellow and wrinkles appear on them, the stem turns black from inside and the taste of the tuber becomes bad.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- Select healthy tubers and vines for planting.

- Before planting, the cuttings should be treated with a solution of 2000 ppm corrosive sublimate for 10 minutes.

- Grow disease resistant varieties.

- Adopt proper crop rotation.

It is caused by a fungus called. Due to this disease, irregular black spots are formed on the surface of tubers.

Black Rot - This disease is caused by a fungus called Ceratostomella fimbriarc. Due to this disease, irregular black spots are formed on the surface of tubers. Due to the attack in the initial stage of the plant, the entire plant dies. In case of its attack, the plant does not die. But the yield of tubers decreases and their taste becomes bitter.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- Use cuttings of vines prepared from disease-free tubers for planting.

- Tubers used for seeds should be treated in a solution of 2.5 percent borax.

- Vines should be soaked in a solution of 2.8 percent spurgeon and then planted.

Cercospora Leaf Spot – This is a disease caused by fungus. Dark green spots appear on the leaves. Growth and development of the vine stops. Yield decreases.

To control this disease, spray 0.25% solution of Dithane M-45.

Harvesting – The digging of sweet potato depends on its time; however, the crop planted in July is ready for digging in November. The tubers are dug out when they are fully developed and ripe. At this stage, the leaves of the vines turn yellow. According to the varieties, digging is done 90-120 days after planting. If the tubers are to be stored, they are dried at 18° Celsius temperature and 80% humidity.

Yield – The yield of sweet potato depends on many things. The fertility of the soil, the variety grown, the method of planting and crop care are important among these. On an average, 50-250 quintals of tubers are obtained per hectare, while hybrid varieties yield up to 400 quintals.

Storage - For proper storage of sweet potatoes, the following points should be taken care of:

- The tubers should be well ripened and dry.

- The tubers should not be torn, injured or bruised.

- The storage house should not be near moisture.

- The temperature of the storage house should be 15° Celsius and the humidity should be 85 - 90 percent.