Yield Performance of Organic Sweetpotato Varieties in Various Mulches

Abstract

Interest in organic sweetpotato production in the United States has been growing as consumers and producers are becoming increasingly concerned about how their food is cultivated. Thus, there is a growing need for information on sweetpotato production and variety selection under an organic management production system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various mulches on yields—total and marketable—of fourteen sweetpotato varieties grown under organic management. Three types of mulch, wheat straw, pine needle, and black plastic, and a control (no mulch) were evaluated during the 2016 growing season. The wheat straw mulch yielded significantly higher yields than the black plastic and pine needle mulch treatments, though it was not significantly different from the control. The total and marketable yields of sweetpotato roots also varied significantly among the varieties, ranging from 39,719 kg·ha−1 for Beauregard to 4925 kg·ha−1 for O’Henry. There was a significant interaction between variety and mulch treatment on total but not marketable yield. More research is needed to ascertain the stability of the effects of varieties, mulch treatment, and their interactions on total and marketable yields and to elucidate other treatments and varieties with better potential to improve sweetpotato yields in organically managed production systems.

Keywords

• black plastic mulch
• pine needle mulch
• sweetpotato production
• organic farming
• sweetpotato varieties
• wheat straw mulch