Scientists to release drought sweet potatoes

KAMPALA: Researchers at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) have developed technologies that will facilitate the research institute to release nutritious, disease and drought resistant sweet potato varieties to farmers in shorter time than usual.
Through developing advanced crop breeding and improvement methods known as genomic tools, scientists are now able to select, with precision, a particular gene they want to come up with a variety without sampling a large pool.
“For you to come up with new varieties now, you start with planting the plantlets, test them… but now you can use the Genomic Tools to test if a certain gene you want is there or not [in the plant],” Dr Benard Yada, a sweet potato researcher and co-principal investigator of the Genomic Tools for Sweet potato Improvement Project (GT4SP), said.

And going forward, scientists will now sequence a reference genome (genes in a cell), previously unavailable for sweet potato that will help improve the nutritional quality of sweet potato; including fusing it with Vitamin A, anthocyanin content and starch.
Anthocyanin is responsible for the purple colour of sweet potatoes, is an antioxidant and has anti-cancer properties.
To come up with the new tools, NaCRRI, partnered with North Carolina State University (NCSU), International Potato Center (CIP), Boyce Thomson Institute (BTI) at Cornell University, USA’s Michigan State University (MSU), and the University of Queensland-Brisbane (QUT) Australia with founding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr Godfrey Asea, the Naccri director said the tools that will cut time of breeding a new variety from 8 to four years, will help them respond swiftly to emerging issues like climate change and diseases that often attach sweet potatoes.
“It will help fast track development of varieties with increased yields, but farmers will get other benefits like nutrition….,” Dr Asea said.
The genome sequencing will also help to develop molecular markers to facilitate selection of varieties that are more resistant to sweet potato virus disease (SPVD), weevils and alternaria blight.
Prof Craig Yencho of North Carolina State University, a co-principal investigator of GT4SP said on top of nutritional values of sweet potatoes to farmers, they should consider it as cash crop too.

“We want to make commercial opportunities in sweet potatoes and that might exist in seed systems. We envisage that sweet potatoes farmers can specialise in making high quality veins for other farmers,” Prof Yencho said.
Other value addition on sweet potatoes that should be explored according to Prof Yencho include; making chips and, flour that can be used in bread.
Mr Jim Lorenzen, the senior programme officer at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation the sponsors of project said: “Our strategy for helping people out of poverty is to start with the stable crop and potatoes is one of them.”

[email protected]