Agronomic performance of sweet potato originated from conventionally and in vitro produced slips

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of sweet potato cultivars (Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam.)) originated from conventionally and in vitro produced branches in Mossoró-RN. The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme, with four replications. The treatments were a combination of five sweet potato cultivars (ESAM 1, ESAM 2, 3 ESAM, Branca do Rio de Janeiro and California) and two propagation techniques (conventional and in vitro). The characteristics valuated were: total, commercial and non-commercial roots yield, commercial roots mass, number of commercial and total roots per plant, dry mass of aerial parts, roots and total. The in vitro propagation of all sweet potato cultivars promoted a larger number and productivity of commercial roots, and the cultivar ESAM 1 showed the highest percentage gains. The cultivars California and ESAM 2 were the most productive respectively, both from conventional and in vitro propagation.