On farm diversity and genetic erosion of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.]

ABSTRACT

Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] varieties can be distinguished by their flesh and skin colors (white, yellow, orange, and purple). The present study was undertaken to assess on-farm diversity and the status of genetic erosion of sweet potatoes in Haramaya district, Ethiopia. Data were collected for similarity/dissimilarity index, preference index, and genetic erosion. The result of the preference index indicated the highest preference index (25.60) with preference rank 1 recorded for the BeelaBochol genotype as the lowest preference index (12.10) was recorded for the BeelaBaleyso genotype. About 66% of the respondents use the intercropping system for sweet potato cultivation. The majority of respondents 97% observed loss of sweet potato varieties. Eighty-two percent of the respondent farmers suggested the use of their seed source for planting. About 73% of the respondents suggested the cultivation of sweet potato as a subsistence crop. The major constraints of sweet potato cultivation, as suggested by the respondents, were tiresome land preparation 37%, lack of improved variety 26%, land scarcity 23%, and market demand 15%. It can be concluded from the result of the present study that farmers can identify and prefer sweet potato genotypes frequently using storage root yield and boiled quality.

KEYWORDS:

• Crop diversity
• dissimilarity index
• food security
• genetic erosion
• genetic integrity
• farm diversity
• preference index
• similarity index

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Haramaya University Research Office for its financial support and laboratory facility.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and materials

The data will be available from the corresponding author on request.

Authors’ contribution

Zekeria Yusuf: initiation and design of the study, lab experiment, data analysis; Ibsa Adem: Lab experiment, data collection, and write-up of the document; Meseret Chimdesa: Analysis and interpretation of data. All authors contributed to drafting the article and revising it critically for important intellectual content.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The authors confirm that all methods were carried out by relevant guidelines and regulations. The experimental protocols were approved by the Haramaya University Research and Ethics Licensing Committee. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s) for the study. The authors also confirm that the permission, for the plant samples used in this study, was obtained from the Haramaya University Herbarium.

Human and animal rights

No humans or animals were used in this study.

Research involving plants

The plant species used in this study are not endangered.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a Haramaya University Research grant, under project code: [HURG_2022_06_01_60].