Article abstract

Journal of Agricultural and Crop Research

Research Article | Published July 2019 | Volume 7, Issue 7, pp. 106-118.

doi: https://doi.org/10.33495/jacr_v7i7.19.127

 

Sweetpotato Research and Development in Ethiopia: A Comprehensive Review

 


 

 

Fekadu Gurmu

 

Email Author

 

South Agricultural Research Institute, Hawassa Research Centre, P. O. Box 6, Hawassa, Ethiopia.


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Citation: Gurmu F (2019). Sweetpotato Research and Development in Ethiopia: A Comprehensive Review. J. Agric. Crop Res. 7(7): 106-118.

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 Abstract 


In Ethiopia, sweetpotato is widely grown in south, southwestern and eastern parts by small-scale farmers. However, the productivity of the crop remained low (8 t ha-1) for a long time and the production of the crop was also declining due to many factors including recurrent drought, lack of planting materials, shortage of farmer preferred varieties, poor extension system, market and postharvest related problems. Various research and development activities have been undertaken to mitigate the above problems and some of the findings have been published in different outlets. There are some review articles on specific aspects of sweetpotato in Ethiopia such as breeding, agronomy research, disease research, entomology research and nutrition. There are also various articles published on food and nutrition, postharvest management, marketing and seed system of sweetpotato. However, there is no a comprehensive reference source of these information. Therefore, this article highlights the major and important research and development works that have been conducted on sweetpotato in Ethiopia. It highlights the historical background of sweetpotato research in Ethiopia from early introduction to the current stages of modern breeding activities. The agro-ecological adaptation of sweetpotato in Ethiopia, area of production and number of households involved in sweetpotato production and contribution of sweetpotato for food and nutrition security are highlighted. Moreover, genetic improvement of sweetpotato, agronomy research, diseases and insect pests research, postharvest handling and marketing, seed system and food, and nutrition studies are discussed. Various research results have been obtained and registered since the inception of research on sweetpotato in Ethiopia, including development of different varieties (>25), development of agronomy and plant protection technologies and guidelines, development of postharvest handling and food preparation manuals, seed standards and production guidelines. The availability of these outputs in a compiled and comprehensive ways is very important for enhancing production and productivity of sweetpotato in Ethiopia and to influence the policy makers to consider sweetpotato as one of the major food and nutrition security crops in Ethiopia. This article can be used as a good reference resource for researchers, students, agricultural extension workers and NGOs working in Ethiopia in the area of root crops in general and sweetpotato in particular.

Keywords   Agronomy   Breeding   food and nutrition   marketing   plant protection   postharvest handling   seed system     

 

 

Copyright © 2019 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

 

 

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