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Crop guide
Sweet Potato
1. Land Preparation Ridges 2.5 ft apart on light, well-drained soil. Sweet potato needs loose soil for the tubers to swell. 2. Sowing Time & Method Plant vine cuttings 8–10 inches long in June–July, one foot apart on the ridge, burying two or three nodes. 3.
Land Preparation
Ridges 2.5 ft apart on light, well-drained soil. Sweet potato needs loose soil for the tubers to swell.
Sowing Time & Method
Plant vine cuttings 8–10 inches long in June–July, one foot apart on the ridge, burying two or three nodes.
Seed Rate & Treatment
Around 10,000 vine cuttings per acre from a healthy, virus-free nursery.
Fertilizer
One bag DAP and one bag SOP. Keep nitrogen low — too much gives vine and small tubers.
Irrigation
Every 10–12 days. Stop watering two to three weeks before digging so the skin hardens and the tubers store.
Weed Control
Weed Damage Control Product
Horse Purslane (Itsit) Takes over the ridge in the first month while the vines are still short, and the roots that set under a weedy ridge stay small. First hoeing on the ridge before the vines run
Purple Nutsedge (Deela) Its sharp shoots grow right through the storage root, and a pierced, forked tuber fetches no price in the market. Fork the patch out with its tubers while the ridges are being made, then pull every regrowth on sight
Bermuda Grass (Khabbal) Runners bind the ridge so it cannot be earthed up again, and pull water out of the root zone. Dig the runners out while the ridges are being made
Crowfoot Grass (Madhana) Carpets the sandy ridges after the monsoon rain and out-roots the young vines for moisture. Two hoeings before the vines cover the ground
Wild Amaranth (Chulai) Shoots up above the vines before they run and shades the crop just when the roots are filling. Second hoeing before the vines cover the ground; carry the plants off the field
Two hoeings before the vines cover the ground.
Insect Pests
Sweet potato weevil is the main problem — it bores the tuber and makes it bitter and unsellable. Earth up the ridges so tubers are never exposed, and rotate the field.
Diseases
Black rot and scurf; use clean planting material.
Harvesting
Dig 110–130 days after planting, when the leaves start to yellow. Handle gently — bruised tubers rot in store.
Expected Yield
100–180 maund per acre.
