SCREENING SWEET POTATO GERMPLASM FOR HIGH DRY MATTER

Sweet potato is an extremely valuable crop for people in tropical regions. It is a high energy food source and unlike many other root crops, is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Sweet potato is one of eight crops identified by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for bioregenerative studies. One of the objectives of the sweet potato breeding program at Tuskegee University is the selection of high yielding cultivars with high dry matter content. Such cultivars can be made available to the Caribbean region as an alternate high energy crop requiring minimal inputs. To identify such cultivars, field screening of over 300 breeding lines were evaluated over a two year period. Selections made from these trials were further evaluated for their adaptability in the Tuskegee University-NFT system. A dry matter content of 25% or more was the major criterion used for selection. Initial planting sources were seeds derived from ten accessions. After the initial screening ten lines were evaluated in replicated trials in the first year. These lines were placed in advanced replicated trials in the second year for further evaluations. Results of the first year data showed dry matter content ranged from 28.8 - 40.9%, with yields ranging from 8.4-37.2 Mt/ha. In the second year, yields were higher ranging from 13.87-58.06 Mt/ha. From these evaluations all lines except K-123.20, which showed very poor yields, were recommended for testing in the TUNFT system