African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (12), pp. 1418-1425, 18 June 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Agronomic performance of locally adapted sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam.) cultivars derived from tissue culture regenerated plants

JN Oggema^1*, MG Kinyua², JP Ouma¹, and JO Owuoche³

¹Department of Crop and Soil sciences, Egerton University, P. O. Box 536, Njoro, Kenya

²Kenya Agricultural Research Institute- Njoro, P. O. Box Njoro-20107, Kenya.

³Moi University, Chepkoilel Campus P. O. Box 1125, Eldoret Kenya.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: juddyoggema@yahoo.com. Tel: +254- 0721 202565. Fax: + 254 020 8561894.

Abbreviations: SPFMV, Sweet potato feathery mottle virus; RCBD, random complete block design, TC, tissue culture; cvs cultivars.

Accepted 7 May, 2007

Tissue culture techniques have opened a new frontier in agricultural science by addressing food security and agricultural production issues. A study was conducted to compare growth and yield characteristics between the tissue culture regenerated and conventionally propagated sweet potato cultivars. Five locally adapted sweet potato cultivars Mugande, SPK004, Kemb10, Japon tresmesino and Zapallo were regenerated in vitro by the methods of indirect and direct embryogenesis and grown under field conditions in a RCBD replicated three times. Significant (P<0.05) interaction was detected between the test cultivars and regeneration method for the growth and yield variables. The highest tuber numbers and marketable yield was recorded with Zapallo. Conventional propagation method gave highest growth rates however the difference in yield between the conventional propagation and tissue culture regenerated plants did not vary significantly (P<0.05). Likewise, virus detection for SPFMV by ELISA established that field plants had a higher virus titre compared to the tissue culture regenerated plants.

Key words: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), tissue culture, regeneration, embryogenesis, propagation method.