Sweetpotatoes are a critical crop for North Carolina, and many places around the world. People in the U.S. may be familiar with the Covington sweetpotato, which Craig Yencho, a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Horticulture, developed with Kenneth Pecota, a Senior Research Scholar in the Department of Horticulture. Craig Yencho …
Read More »Market segmentation and sustaining sweetpotato seed businesses
Sweetpotato seed systems, which produce and distribute vine cuttings that farmers plant, are vital for disseminating improved varieties and ensuring that farmers have access to sufficient quality planting material when they need it. The International Potato Center (CIP) and partners have worked to strengthen sweetpotato seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa as part …
Read More »Renovating crop breeding for faster delivery and greater impact
As increasingly erratic weather, pest and disease expansion, and other trends threaten farmers’ ability to produce enough food for the growing population, crop breeders are working on ways to speed up and improve the development of more resilient, high-yielding varieties. The current COVID-19 pandemic only reinforces the urgency of developing …
Read More »Understanding farmer needs for new sweetpotato varieties
Jeanne Mukasine hails from Gakenke district in the northern reaches of Rwanda, the country of a thousand hills. Mukasine wears many hats —farmer, mother and wife. She is also a successful agri-preneur. Jeanne Mukasine (left) on her farm with Kiddo Mtunda (a sweetpotato breeder from Tanzania, and Jean Ndirigwe (a …
Read More »Building synergies between modernized sweetpotato breeding and seed systems for improved varieties in East and Central Africa
SweetGAINS (Genetic Advances and Innovative Seed Systems) is a project aiming to modernize sweetpotato breeding operations, accelerate and expand the development and dissemination of nutrient rich, climate-resilient sweetpotato varieties to benefit millions of African families. Over the next three years, SweetGAINS, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will employ …
Read More »ORANGE-FLESHED SWEETPOTATO TO FEED HIDDEN HUNGER
No-one wakes up saying ‘I crave vitamin A today’ Listen to podcast There is more to good nutrition than calories and protein. The realisation that you can be perfectly well fed, maybe even too well fed, and yet still malnourished, is relatively recent. It often goes by the name hidden …
Read More »PATATE DOUCE A CHAIR ORANGE. VOTRE PASSEPORT POUR UNE BONNE SANTE (YOUR PASSPORT TO GOOD HEALTH-FRENCH VERSION)
Good news!Read and download the french version of our famous “Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) Passport to Good Health”. This passport-sized document contains all the facts and figures you need to know about orange-fleshed sweetpotato from its nutritional value, how it can be used, who to contact for varieties, contact information for …
Read More »GHANA PREPARES FOR RELEASE OF FOUR SWEETPOTATO VARIETIES
The Ghana National Variety Release and Registration Committee (NVRRC) recently conducted a field inspection and review of performance data at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI) in Nyankpala, Ghana. Sweetpotato inspection plots for release at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – …
Read More »CIP’S MARIA ISABEL ANDRADE HONORED BY TOP PLANT BREEDING JOURNAL
In its December 2019 issue, the journal Plant Breeding Reviews has recognized International Potato Center (CIP) scientist and 2016 World Food Prize co-recipient, Maria Isabel Andrade, for her contributions to the field for her important work on sweetpotato. The article describes Andrade’s professional journey starting in the island nation of Cape Verde, where …
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