ARS Releases New Sweet Potato

Charles Benbrook 1dec00

From the recent Plant Breeding News --

[Comment re below -- it might be interesting to compare the genesis of this sweet potato -- who did the work, why, what it cost, IPR status, likelihood of adoption in developing world -- relative to Golden rice, along side a benefits assessment if an acre is planted instead of an acre of golden rice. In the U.S., rice and sweet potatoes grow in many of the same areas; perhaps that might be true elsewhere. chuck]

III.3. ARS RELEASES NEW PEST-RESISTANT SWEET POTATO Agnet Nov 16, November 16, 2000 USDA ARS News Service Ruddy, a new sweet potato with excellent baking quality and flavor, has been released by the Agricultural Research Service. Ruddy is the first red-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potato with resistance to multiple pests--insects, diseases and nematodes--released from the ARS breeding program. Ruddy was developed by ARS geneticist Janice R. Bohac and ARS entomologist D. Michael Jackson at the U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, S.C., working with researchers at the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Clemson University. Medium-orange-fleshed sweet potatoes like Ruddy contain very high levels of the key nutrient beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. One medium-sized sweet potato provides more than the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin A--as well as high levels of fiber, vitamin C and folic acid. Ruddy produces high yields and keeps well under long-term storage. It is highly resistant to the larvae of several soil insects--the southern potato wireworm, tobacco wireworm, banded and striped cucumber beetles, elongate flea beetle, and the pale striped flea beetle. Ruddy is more susceptible to white grub larvae than the insect- resistant cultivar Regal, but is highly resistant to Fusarium wilt and to two races of the southern root-knot nematode. Small quantities of foundation seed roots, sprouts and cuttings of Ruddy will be available to researchers for the 2001 crop season. By then, genetic material should be available from the Sweet potato Clonal Repository at Griffin, Ga.

Charles Benbrook Ag BioTech InfoNet < http://www.biotech-info.net > Benbrook Consulting Services CU FQPA site < http://www.ecologic-ipm.com > 5085 Upper Pack River Road IPM site < http://www.pmac.net  > Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 Voice: (208)-263-5236 Fax: (208)-263-7342 E-mail: <benbrook@hillnet.com >