How to choose sweet potato varieties? Provincial Crop Institute experts recommend varieties for spring, summer and autumn planting

Sweet potatoes can be planted in spring, summer and autumn. Spring planting is generally done in March to April, summer planting is generally done in May, and autumn planting is done within one week after the Start of Autumn. Below are several sweet potato varieties suitable for planting in our province.

Jinye: a new stem-tip vegetable sweet potato variety. This variety has tender stem tips, low crude fiber content, and good palatability after cooking, making it suitable for use as a vegetable. With open-field cultivation, the stem tips can be picked about 10 times over the whole growing period, with 250 kg of stem tips picked per 667 sq m each time, and a picking interval of 15 days. Per 667 sq m, about 1000 kg of tubers can be harvested. It can be grown in pots; generally about 5 g of stem tips can be picked per pot each time, once every 7-10 days. It has strong disease resistance and does not require pesticide application. This variety has deeply compound-notched leaf shapes, light green terminal leaves, green leaves, and medium-sized leaves. The veins are green with purple. The stem is green. The petiole base is purple. It is a medium-short vine type. The stem is about 0.61 cm thick. The tubers are spindle-shaped, with red skin and white flesh. The stem tips are tender, low in crude fiber, nutritious, and good-tasting after cooking, with no bitter or astringent taste. After cooking, the flavor is delicious, making it a superior dish for guesthouses and hotels. This variety generally yields 2500-3000 kg of stem tips per mu.

Zijinshu: a sweet potato variety with purple flesh. Purple sweet potatoes are rich in minerals; their calcium content is 5 times higher than that of potatoes, and their magnesium content is equivalent to 3 times that of carrots. This variety contains multiple vitamins. Its vitamin E content is higher than that of pumpkin. Purple sweet potatoes are rich in substances such as anthocyanins, have extremely strong antioxidant effects and cancer-inhibiting effects, and have multiple functions such as preventing liver dysfunction and preventing high blood pressure. Zijinshu generally yields about 2500 kg per mu.

YS86 and YS13 high-starch varieties: tuber drying rate 33%-35%, starch content 23%-25%. Generally, fresh tuber yield is about 3000 kg per mu, and under high-yield cultivation it can reach 3000-3500 kg per mu.

Xiangshu No. 15: a variety specially for preserved sweet potato processing. It won the Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, third prize, in 2001. The tubers are spindle-shaped, with yellow skin tinged with red, and orange-red flesh; each plant sets 3-4 tubers, with 95% large and medium tubers, and good quality. The tuber drying rate is 25%. It stores well and is resistant to sweet potato blast and black spot disease. It generally yields 2500-3000 kg per mu. Preserved sweet potato processed from this variety has plump strips that do not split, with natural, bright color and rich nutrition.

Xiangshu No. 16: a new high-yield, disease-resistant dual-purpose sweet potato variety. It won the Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award, third prize, in 2003. This variety has light green terminal leaves, green leaves, purple veins, and heart-shaped leaves. It is a medium-vine type, with green stems and 5-7 branches per plant. It sets tubers relatively early, neatly and concentratedly, with 3-4 tubers per plant. The tubers are spindle-shaped, with ginger-yellow skin and yellow-white flesh. It is resistant to sweet potato blast. The tuber drying rate is 28.5%. It generally yields about 3000 kg of fresh tubers per mu, and under high-yield cultivation can reach 4000 kg.

Fruit sweet potato: a new sweet potato variety that can be eaten raw as a fruit. The flesh is white; eaten raw it tastes like a pear, crisp and refreshing, sweet and lung-moistening. It is rich in nutrients such as vitamin C and minerals. The tubers are spindle-shaped, with red skin and white flesh. It generally yields about 3000 kg of fresh tubers per mu, with good planting benefits.

Jinse: a new variety for eating and food processing. This variety is a medium-vine type. The terminal leaves are light green, the leaves are green, and the veins are purple. The leaves are heart-shaped. The stem is green. Each plant has 5-7 branches. It sets tubers relatively early, neatly and concentratedly, with 4-5 tubers per plant. The tubers are spindle-shaped, with yellow skin and orange-yellow flesh, and a high marketable tuber rate. It is suitable for preserved sweet potato processing, has low crude fiber content, and tastes excellent when cooked. The tuber drying rate is about 29%, and it generally yields about 2800 kg of fresh tubers per mu, reaching up to 3480 kg under high-yield conditions.