Sustainable Sweet Potato Production through Biotechnological Tools

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) is cultivated throughout the tropics and warm temperate regions of the world for its starchy, long, tapered, ovoid or round shaped roots of variedskin colors like white, orange or purple, frequently used after boiling, baking or frying and provide nutrition in the form of many essential vitamins and minerals. Sweet potato is a major crop that feeds millions of people in the developing world. The tubers are also processed into starch, flour or puree to make secondary food products, the green vines are used as fodder for cattle. There are several ongoing projects in Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America where crop biotechnology is being used to enhance locally grown crops. The expectation is that genetically improved crops e.g. those able to resist local pests, will allow even a small scale farmer to grow more crops using fewer inputs and in an environmentally sustainable manner. Itis especially popular among farmers with limited resources and produces more biomass and nutrients per hectare than any other food crop in the world. New biotechnological approaches may enable scientists to rapidly develop superior, disease and pest resistant cultivars.