YIELD MAXIMIZATION OF SWEET POTATOES (Ipomoea batatas [L.] Lam) WHITE VS RED CULTIVARS IN YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE OF NIGERIA

A Field experiment was conducted during the 2018 cropping season, at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Agriculture Federal College of Education, (FCE) Yola. Yola is located in Northern Guinea Savanna Zone at latitude 9o 14' North and longitude 12o 38' East and altitude of 158m above sea level. The treatments for experiment consist of two potato cultivars (White and Red) which vines were obtained from the open market in Yola and slips prepared from previous year's tubers. Complete Randomized Block Design (CRBD) was used and the treatments were replicated three (3) times. Both sweet and white potatoes provide similar amounts of key nutrients including protein (2g and 3g respectively), potassium and vitamin B6, all of which contribute to a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet. It has 20.1g CHO, Starch 20.1g, Sugars 4.2g, Dietary fiber 3g, Protein 1.6g and fat 0.1g. Soups, leaves and shoots are edible, Tubers roasted in many African Countries such as Kenya, South Sudan, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria.their increased cultivation is being encouraged in Africa where vitamin A deficiency is a serious health problem. he highest yield of 8 tones/ha-1 was recorded on the red cut vines, followed by 6 tones/ha-1 on the white cut vines. There were no significant difference on the spread/uncut vines which gave yields of 3.6 tones/ha-1 and 4.8 tones/ha-1 while significant difference were observed on the cut vines with a mean weight tuber of 6.5 and 8.1 respectively. Results in sweet potato showed that, it has a good potential to the farmers in terms of yield and income. Their increased cultivation is being encouraged in Africa where vitamin A deficiency is a serious health problem. Their differences in terms of yield between the white and the red cultivars might be due to the methods adopted for planting the vines. It is therefore recommended to cut the vines when planting in order to obtain higher yield since yield is an important factor to be considered for sweet potato production.