08-November-20047 SEARCA News
From 1912-1995, there were 24 varieties of sweet potato reported in Central Luzon, Philippines. However, a 2005 study found only four varieties left in the area (super bureau, Taiwan, ube, and bentong). To increase its diversity, an inventory of the existing sweet potato varieties in other parts of the country was conducted.
Eighteen potential varieties were then introduced in the municipalities of Bamban, Gerona, Moncada, and Pura in Tarlac province. These varieties came from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and Visayas State University (VSU). The introduced varieties underwent sensory evaluation and on-farm trials to assess their marketability.
Conservation by utilization – this was emphasized by Prof. Teresita Borromeo in her lecture about sweet potato or kamote as an economic cash crop and its diminishing diversity.
Prof. Borromeo stressed that the best way to conserve sweet potato is by utilizing it. However, Dr. Wilma Hurtada, an associate professor in UPLB, pointed out that the uses of sweet potato remain mostly on the household level and are not really for commercial purposes.
The aforementioned project recommended continuous monitoring of the introduced sweet potato varieties as well as applying the same methodology in other areas of Central Luzon.
This undertaking was a collaborative effort of UPLB, Department of Agriculture-Central Luzon Integrated Agricultural Research Center for Lowland Development (DA-CLIARCLD), UPWARD-CIP and the local government units of the project sites.
Entitled “Increasing Sweet Potato Diversity in Central Luzon through Sustainable Land Use,” the professorial chair lecture/ADSS was held last Nov. 6 at Drilon Hall, SEARCA. The seminar is co-organized with the Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture.
(Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMU)
Photo by
Janine Edwards, available at 
