Sweet Potato Production, Utilization, and Marketing in Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In Nigeria, sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) production, marketing and utilisation have expanded beyond the traditional areas of the central and riverine zones to the humid, sub-humid and semi-arid regions in the last two-and-a-half decades. The national production figures reported by FAO showed a rapid increase in production and area harvested in the 1390s, surpassing two million tonnes harvested from more than 300,000 hectares annually by the end of the decade. However, estimates of sweetpotato in Nigeria vary widely among different sources, and as such these statistics should be interpreted with caution. FAO estimates of average sweetpotato yield of 5 to 8 t/lia are similar with estimates from farm surveys conducted by state agricultural development projects which reported yields of populär local varieties from 7 t/ha in the southeastern zone, 3.5 t/ha in the northern Zone, and 7 to 8 t/ha in Plateau and Bauchi States. Farm yields remain far below that obtained from research plots with improved varieties, however. Estimated yields in the research stations vary from 40 to 70 t/ha for improved varieties while multilocational trials for improved varieties registered 23.5 t/ha yield across seasons and locations. These results suggest there is substantial scope for increasing sweet potato productivity in Nigeria.