Sweetpotato varietal development: Emphasis on evaluating orange-fleshed sweetpotato for nutrition and livelihood improvement in eastern India

摘要

Food and nutritional security is the primary concern of the rural livelihoods in most parts of eastern India. Micronutrient malnutrition is increasingly recognized as a health problem in several parts eastern India primarily Orissa state. Orissa is the largest sweetpotato growing state in India with average productivity of 8.6 tons/ha which is below the National average of 9 tons/ha and the Asian average of 15tons/ha. Introduction of improved varieties or germplasm could enhance the yield. This paper discusses on the sweetpotato varietal improvement through research institutional partnerships, introduction of improved sweetpotato varieties/germplasm and their performance over local or traditional sweetpotato varieties. The performance of the improved genotypes especially those with orange flesh colour was good at two of three locations tested in Orissa. Several organizations partnered with International Potato Center (CIP) in Orissa to demonstrate and provide high yielding sweetpotato varieties that could help the resource poor farming communities for food and income and to further reduce vitamin A deficiency u-sing β-carotene rich sweetpotatoes named orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP).