ગુજરાતી
English
Sweet Potato
Farmers in Jalia village in Godhra taluka of Panchmahal district grow sweet potato in the true sense. It produces 15 tonnes per hectare. But its sweetness is so high that it tastes best when eaten upside down. The price is good.
These are fibre-free and sweet in taste, as chemical fertilisers have not been used here for 10 years. Organic soil, earthworm and cow dung manure are used extensively as fertiliser.
But productivity is low. On the contrary, productivity in agriculture is double. In Gujarat, an average of 23 tonnes of potato is produced per hectare.
There is adequate water and irrigation available here. One hectare produces 15 tonnes of sweet potato.
Since wild boars love sweet potatoes, their herds come out of the forest at night, dig up the ground and eat the sweet potatoes.
Navsari Agricultural University
Navsari Agricultural University has successfully identified two varieties of sugarcane, Collection-71 and Cross-4, for cultivation by farmers of South Gujarat region. Navsari produces 28 thousand kg of red skinned mango per hectare for South Gujarat. Collection – 71 has red skin and white flesh. Tuber production is 28 tonnes per hectare.
Cross 4 varieties have been developed which give 32 thousand kg yield per hectare. Cross – 4 varieties have white skinned tubers. The pulp of the tuber is butter white in colour. The average tuber production is 32 tonnes per hectare.
Pusa White variety is good. Tubers of Pusa Sunhari variety are long and their peel is brown in colour. After boiling, its colour becomes light orange.
Pusa White is sweet in taste.
Pusa is golden yellow-orange in colour.
Pusa Red variety has red skin and white pulp.
Pusa Bharti, Pusa Harit, Kisan, Kalmegh, Konkan Ashwini, Shri Nandini, Shri Vardhini, Shri Rethna, Shri Arun, Shri Varun, Shri Kanak, Shri Dhara, VL Shakkarkand-6, Rajendra Shakkarkand are varieties at the national level. Which can be sown by the farmers of Gujarat.
Jewel variety is a transgenic variety of sugarcane.
Agriculture
Winter sowing is done in October-November, while monsoon sowing is done in June-July.
10 to 15 tonnes of manure is applied per hectare. The use of chemical fertilizers can be reduced by using organic manures.
Loamy soil is favorable, fertile soil promotes more vegetative growth and less tuber growth. The soil pH should be between 5.8 and 6.8. Sweet potato roots are 120 to 180 cm deep in the soil. As deep as possible. After 60 days the top of the vine should be 15 cm long. A part of it can be cut and used as cattle fodder. The triangular shaped leaves look like daylily fruit. Sweet potato crop can also withstand dry weather and water shortage. Its cultivation is most profitable during monsoon. Their plants can grow better in this season. Temperature between 25 to 34 degrees is considered ideal for the growth of this plant.
Forms roots at nodes. Roots which are tubers and are used as vegetables. There are 50 genera and 1 thousand species in the world. 12 types of hybrid vines are found in Gujarat. It is a perennial medicinal vine. The flowers bloom before sunrise and close again in the morning after a few hours.
These colors are: yellow, orange, red, brown and purple.
Ways to increase production
Putting soil near the stem helps the tubers to sit better. Changing the vines every 30 days gives better yield.
Diseases
Infection by leafhoppers, black rot and sweet potato borer is more common.
It passes through vines or tubers in a secretive manner. It damages the sugarcane tubers by making holes in them. Sometimes the loss is 100 percent.
Sweet potato village
There are 200 farmers in Chaluwa village of Mehsana district, 90 percent of whom have been cultivating sweet potato for 40 years. Sweet potato is grown on 1,000 bighas of land.
Since it is a livestock farm, sweet potato vines provide fodder for the animals.
The cost of the entire crop comes to about 15 thousand rupees. The total cost of the farm including rent and labor is 40 thousand. Which gives an income of about 70 thousand. Its price in the market reaches 20 to 30 rupees per kg.
Use
Sugarcane tuber is a cumulative modification of the root. Used for food, starch and alcohol. Farmers can use it by creating their own industry. It is a perennial tuber, whose leaves are heart-shaped.
Mehsana
Farmer Bharatbhai Parsotambhai Patel of Mathasur village in Kadi taluka of Mehsana district has been cultivating 350 bighas of land for years. Use of Jeevamrit, Dhan Jeevamrit in a natural way. One bigha yields 200 to 250 maunds. The price of one maund Sakaria in the market is between 300 to 320. The sale is around 90 thousand rupees at a cost of Rs 18,000. 100 farmers of Mathasur, Kayal, Anandpura, Vadu villages near Nandasan have cultivated more than 400 bighas of land.
Anand
Farmer Devesh Patel of Boriyavi village in Anand makes and sells sweet potato and potato chips on 20 bighas of land. Each of his products is FSSAI certified. Organic farming increases the shine of tubers.
Khambat
Rameshbhai Patel, a farmer of Popatpura in Khambhat taluka, has been cultivating sweet potatoes on 10 bighas of land for 40 years. Two decades ago, 400 maunds of sweet potatoes were grown in this area, but agricultural production has decreased to about 100 maunds. He is sowing only Anjar variety.
Which lasted for 150 days. C-71 variety is sown because it gives production in 90 days. There is a huge demand for sweet potatoes from Khambhat. Sweet potatoes are cultivated in 900 acres of fields in 13 villages including Vatra, Undel, Nana Kalodra and Salna. Unlike any other place in Gujarat, the soil here is good for sweet potatoes.
400 maunds per 1 bigha
Bhupendrabhai, a farmer from Undel, Khambhat, used to produce about 250 maunds. With the help of agricultural research centers, improved varieties are cultivated and 400 maunds of yield is obtained per bigha. Sweet potatoes from Khambhat district go to Surat, Bharuch and Mumbai.
New
Method
Sanjaybhai Panchbhai Rawal, a farmer from Mathasur village in Mehsana, digs a pit in the soil using a tractor to extract sweet potatoes from the soil of his field. Sweet potatoes can be harvested from one bigha of land in just three hours. There is a 70 percent saving in labor cost.
Sweet potato is a root vegetable of South America.
Elements
The tuber contains 27 to 30 percent starch, sugar and vitamins A, B and C.
Tubers with yellow and orange flesh are high in carotene.
It is rich in carbohydrates and calories. Sweet potatoes contain important vitamins like vitamins A, C and B5 and many essential minerals like copper and potassium.
Gujarat
The total area under vegetable crops in the state of Gujarat is 80 thousand hectares, which produces 1 crore 67 thousand tonnes. The average production of all types of vegetables is 20 tonnes per hectare. But 26 tonnes of sweet potato crop is being grown in Kheda district. The highest cultivation in Gujarat is done in Kheda. Anand is in second place.
Top 5 Regions
Area – Hectares – Production Tonnes – Productivity
Kheda – 6006 – 157597 – 26.24
Anand – 762 – 14356 – 18.84
Valsad – 475 – 5776 – 12.16
Bharuch – 415 – 8607 – 20
Somnath – 255 – 3307 – 12.97
Jamnagar has a yield of 30.75 tonnes per hectare. Sabarkantha produces 29.32 tonnes per hectare. Despite the fact that Gandhinagar produces 25 tonnes and Mahisagar 25 tonnes of sweet potato, which is the same productivity as Kheda, why do farmers of these regions not prefer to cultivate sweet potato?
In India
In India, the production of sweet potato was 1503000 tonnes from 134000 hectares in 2017-18. Which was planted in 150,000 hectares in 2021. Production and cultivation were continuously declining for the last 20 years. In 1996, 9092 kg of crop was produced per hectare. In 2017-18, 11,201 kg of crop was produced per hectare. Water scarcity is showing its effect.
In the world
Sweet potato cultivation is spread over an area of 8.7 million hectares and its production is 130 million tonnes. China produces 25 million tonnes. India produces 1.29 million tonnes. India is at number six.
