Sweetpotato Cultivar Selection and Information

Considerations for Cultivar Selection

Cultivar selection is critical for the production of a successful sweetpotato crop. Like many aspects of sweetpotato production, there are multiple factors to consider, and often decisions made are specific to particular conditions and needs of growers. However, ultimately, the selection of a particular cultivar is dependent on the economics associated with production and ensuring a profit for the sweetpotato grower.

Factors largely associated with the economics of production include the price of inputs (pesticides, fertilizer, water, etc.) and prices as dictated by market demands (Jennings et al., 2019). When discussing inputs, it is important to consider differences in cultivars as it pertains to fertilizer ratios (particularly nitrogen), resistance to insects, and resistance to common diseases. Generally, it is beneficial to select cultivars that have resistance to multiple insect species and common diseases as it can decrease the amount of pesticides needed to sustain a high-yielding sweetpotato crop. As for market demand, the price of a particular cultivar can vary dramatically depending on the market and consumer demand (Jennings et al., 2019). Characteristics that may be considered include the color of the flesh and the color of the skin. Thus, growers should consider characteristics that are in demand and select appropriate sweetpotato cultivars to ensure the sale of the sweetpotato crop at an appropriate price.

Further, agronomic characteristics like yield and production time must be considered (Jennings et al., 2019). Specifically, growers often select cultivars that are higher-yielding given that more product will be available for sale. As for production time, cultivars that have shorter times until harvest are often favored for their ability to save on input costs over time. Further, shorter times until harvest are favored as sweetpotatoes can be harvested before temperatures drop below that of the optimum growing temperature (which also often coincides with optimal temperatures for disease incidence).

Other factors that may impact the selection of sweetpotato cultivars include the proportion of misshapen storage roots at harvest, plant production, compatibility with organic production, and length of viability while in storage (Jennings et al., 2019).

Additional Cultivar Information

The below tables have been adapted from the North Carolina Organic Commodities Production Guide: Crop Production Management- Sweetpotatoes, the LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Variety Factsheets, and “Screening Sweetpotato Genotypes for Resistance to a North Carolina Isolate of Meloidogyne enterolobii” by Schwarz et al., 2021.

Table 1. Characteristics of different sweet potato cultivars commonly grown in the United States. Focus on the cultivar origin, agronomic characteristics, flesh color, and skin color.

Table Scale: Yield: VH = Very High, H = High, A = Average, BA = Below Average. Days to Harvest: E = Early (90 – 100 days after planting), M = Midseason (101 – 115 days after planting), L = Late (>115 days after planting). Plant Production: E = Early, M = Middle, L = Late, VH = Very High Plant Production, H = High Plant Production, A = Average Plant Production.

Sweet Potato Cultivar	Cultivar Origin	Yield	Days to Harvest	Plant Production	Flesh Color	Skin Color
Averre (NC05-198)	North Carolina State University	VH	E	E-H	Orange	Light Rose
Bayou Belle	Louisiana State University	VH	E	E-H	Deep Orange	Red to Purple
Beauregard	Louisiana State University	H	E	E-H	Moderately Deep Orange	Light Rose
Bellevue	Louisiana State University	A-VH	M	A	Bright Orange	Copper
Bonita	Louisiana State University	A	M-L	E-H	White, Tinge of Yellow	Light Tan, Pink Cast at Harvest
Burgundy	Louisiana State University	BA	M-L	A	Deep Orange	Red-Brown (Burgundy)
Centennial	Louisiana State University				Orange	Copper
Covington	North Carolina State University	H	M	L-A	Moderately Deep Orange	Light to Medium Rose
Diane	Heirloom	H	M-L	VH	Deep Orange	Dark Red
Evangeline	Louisiana State University	H	M	ML-A	Intense, Deep Orange	Light Rose
Hernandez	Louisiana State University				Deep Orange	Red
Jewel	North Carolina State University	A	M	E-H	Orange	Copper
Mahon					Orange	Rose
Murasaki-29	Louisiana State University	A	L	E-VH	White	Dark Purple
NC04-531	North Carolina State University	BA	L	M-H	Orange	Dark Rose
O’Henry					White	Cream
Orleans	Louisiana State University	H	E	EM-H	Moderately Deep Orange	Light Rose
Porto Rico	North Carolina State University	BA	L	E-VH	Salmon	Copper
White Bonita	Louisiana State University				White to Light Cream	Light Tan

Table 2. Characteristics of different sweet potato cultivars commonly grown in the United States. Focus on susceptibility or resistance of cultivars to various plant diseases and insect pests, particularly wilts, blights, and rots. Wireworm Diabrotica Systena (WDS) Complex includes insects such as wireworms, Diabrotica or cucumber beetles, Systena or flea beetles, and sweetpotato flea beetle (Chaetocnema confines).

Table Scale: R = Resistant, S = Susceptible, I = Intermediate, HR = Highly Resistant, MR = Moderately Resistant, MS = Moderately Susceptible, – = Unknown.

Sweet Potato Cultivar	Fusarium Wilt	Sclerotial Blight	Soil Rot	Rhizopus Soft Rot	Fusarium Root Rot	Bacterial Root Rot	WDS Complex	Flea Beetle
Averre (NC05-198)	R	-	MR	-	--	-	S	S
Bayou Belle	R	-	I-R	R	-	S	S	S
Beauregard	R	I	R-I	R	R	S	S	S
Bellevue	R	I	R	I	I	S	S	S
Bonita	I-R	-	I	S	S-I	S	S	S
Burgundy	R	-	I-R	S	-	S
Centennial	I-R	I-S	S	-	I	R
Covington	R	-	I-R	I	-	-	S	MS
Diane	I	S	R	S	-	-	MS	-
Evangeline	R	-	I-R	R	R	S	S	S
Hernandez	I-R	-	R-I	I-S	I	R
Jewel	R	I	S	I	I	I	S	S
Mahon	-	-	-	-	-	-
Murasaki-29	R		I-R	R	R		MR	MR
NC04-531	R	-	MR	-	-	-	MR	MR
O’Henry	R	I	R-I	R	R	S
Orleans	R	-	R-I	R	R	S	S	S
Porto Rico	S	S	S	-	R-I	R	S	S
White Bonita

Table 3. Characteristics of different sweet potato cultivars commonly grown in the United States. Focus on susceptibility or resistance of cultivars to Meloidogyne incognita (Southern Root-Knot Nematode) and Meloidogyne enterolobii (Guava Root-Knot Nematode).

Table Scale: R = Resistant, S = Susceptible, I = Intermediate, HR = Highly Resistant, MR = Moderately Resistant, MS = Moderately Susceptible, – = Unknown.

Sweet Potato Cultivar	Meloidogyne incognita (Southern Root-Knot Nematode)	Meloidogyne enterolobii (Guava Root-Knot Nematode)
Averre (NC05-198)	S	S
Bayou Belle	I-R	S
Beauregard	S	S
Bellevue	HR	S
Bonita	R	S
Burgundy	R	S
Centennial	S	R
Covington	R	S
Diane		-
Evangeline	HR	I-S
Hernandez	R-I	S
Jewel	I-R	R
Mahon		S
Murasaki-29	HR	R
NC04-531	R	S
O’Henry		S
Orleans	S	S
Porto Rico	I-S	-
White Bonita		-