Sweetpotato Storage

In the last four decades of the twentieth century the use of sweetpotato was diversified beyond their classification as subsistence, food security, and famine-relief crop. In developing countries they serve both as human food and for feeding livestock. In Western countries they appeal to health conscious consumers because of their nutritional aspects. The sweetpotato is very high in nutritive value, and merits wider use on this account alone. The book has 2 parts. A general one giving up-to-date information on the history, botany, cultivars, genetic engineering, propagation, diseases and pests, nutritional data and marketing; and a second part presenting data on sweetpotato growing practices in different areas of the world. The information should be useful to researchers, practitioners and crop administrators in different countries.

"The proper storage of sweet potatoes is one of the most important food-conservation measures that can be put into effect in the southern states. No perishable product produced in the South is as of great importance as the sweet potato, and none is so poorly handled. This bulletin describes in considerable detail the types of storage houses that have proved successful and the proper method of handling sweet potatoes from harvesting to marketing. For those growers who are not able to build storage houses, directions are given for saving the sweet-potato crop by using outdoor cellars and banks." -- p. 2.

Sweetpotato and potato are expanding faster than any other food crops in sub-Saharan Africa. There is growing investment in research to address bottlenecks in value chains concerning these two crops, and growing interest from the private sector in investing in them. This book addresses five major themes on sweetpotato and potato: policies for germplasm exchange, food security and trade in Africa; seed systems; breeding and disease management; post-harvest management, processing technologies and marketing systems; nutritional value and changing behaviours.

Storage of sweetpotatoes, which have an important place in the human diet, benefits both the producer and the consumer, since it makes sweetpotatoes available throughout the year. While not all sweetpotatoes grown are marketed, over half of those which are will move to market between November and June, and must be stored for some time prior. Loss during storage is tremendous, therefore, there is much room for improvement in sweetpotato storage, which this bulletin addresses.