Sweet Potato: A Potential Industrial and Staple Food Crop of Nigeria

This article reviews the impact of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) on the world economy, its uses, and efforts in Nigeria to popularize its cultivation and acceptability. The potential and average yields of 87 and 20–30 t/ha respectively (over a three–six month growing period) under improved management practices, its ecological flexibility, its low input requirements, the wide range of recipes based on its flour, and easy propagation by vine cuttings distinguish the sweet potato as a potentially important industrial and staple food crop. Problems relating to sweetness, dominant flavour, and the colour of the cooked product are identified as ones requiring solution if its acceptability is to be enhanced.