In this publication, we see that drought is a major environmental constraint to potato production in warm and hot tropics and for sweetpotato in the traditional cultivation areas. The problem of drought stress can be alleviated by manipulating cultural and management practices and by using adapted genotypes with drought resistance.

CIP have developed a two-phased approach to screen potatoes and sweetpotatoes for their drought-resistance ability. In this publication, the methodologies used in the first phase to select for drought resistance based on rooting ability are described for wider adoption and testing. Adapted cultivars can be selected at a country site level since drought is extremely site-specific.