Evaluation of White fleshed Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Varieties for Maximum Root Yield and Quality Traits at Wondo Genet and Koka

The experiment was conducted during 2020 and 2021 growing seasons at Wondogenet and koka to evaluate the performance of white fleshed potato varieties with respect to their root yield and qualities. Six improved white fleshed sweet potato varieties were tested using randomized complete block design with three replications. All necessarily data were collected and analyzed using SAS software. The combined analysis of variance showed a highly significant differences (p≤0.05) among tested varieties for plant height, root number per plant, root diameter, root weight per plant, root yield per hectare and root dry matter content. As a result, Hawassa-09 variety gave the highest tuber yield per hectare (40.76 t ha- 1) which was statistically similar with Berkume variety (37.81 t ha-1) while the lowest (17.23 t ha-1) from Adu variety. The highest root dry matter content (27.29) was obtained from Hawassa-83 variety which was followed byHawassa-09 (26.09) variety while the lowest (20.01) from variety Adu. Therefore, among the tested sweet potato varieties, Hawassa-09 and Hawassa-83 were recommended for their better root yield and quality traits for the study areas and similar agroecology.

Keywords:Environment; Genetic variation; Root dry matter content; Root yield; White fleshed