Evaluation of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas (L) Lam) Varieties at Tepi, Southwestern Ethiopia

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is one of the globally important root crops. In Ethiopia, its production is confronted with lack of planting materials, shortage of farmer preferred varieties, poor extension system among many other constraints. The study was conducted to assess the performance of different released varieties at Teppi. Evaluation of the varieties was carried out in main cropping season. Each treatment was replicated three times and arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design. Stand count at harvest, number of roots per plant, plant height, total root yield, root length and root diameter were measured. All the traits showed significant difference between varieties. The highest root yield (50.83 t/ha), root length (24.77 cm) and root diameter (10.35 cm) were recorded for the variety Awassa-83. The lowest root yield (27.67 t/ha), root length (8.9 cm) and root diameter (4.75 cm) were recorded for the variety Cemsa, Beletech and Temesgen, respectively. The highest number of roots per plant (4.03) was recorded for the variety Cemsa and there was no significant difference observed between other varieties. The findings of the study revealed that, Awassa-83 was found to be more adapted to the area as compared to other varieties. This variety should be popularized and disseminated to users to boost the production and productivity of Sweet Potato in the area.

Keywords: Sweet potato; Yield