Introduction to Growing Organic Sweet Potatoes
Sweet Potato is an herbaceous perennial crop in the family Convolvulaceae. The botanical name of Sweet Potato is Ipomoea batatas and this crop is mainly grown because of its sweet taste and starchy roots. The tubers are a rich source of beta-carotene and used as anti-oxidants. The Sweet Potato plant is a branching, creeping vine with spirally arranged lobed, heart-shaped plant leaves and white or lavender flowers. This plant has enlarged roots called tubers which act as an energy store for the plant. In this article we also covered the below topics about Sweet Potatoes;
- How many Sweet Potatoes can one plant produce
- How do you increase the yield of a Sweet Potato
- Do Sweet Potatoes need to be organic
- How do you grow organic Sweet Potatoes
- How do you propagate Sweet Potatoes
- How much space does a Sweet Potato need
- How do you cut Sweet Potato slips for the process of planting
A Step by Step Guide to Growing Organic Sweet Potatoes
In India, Sweet Potato is called ‘Sakharkanda’. Sweet Potatoes produce lush foliage and Sweet tubers. The Sweet Potatoes have low nutrient levels and you can fertilize them successfully with organic materials or with a low-nitrogen organic fertilizer blend. About 2 lakh of land is under cultivation of Sweet Potatoes in India. Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Orissa are the major Sweet Potato growing states in India.