A) INTRODUCTION OF SWEET POTATOES

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is indigenous to tropical America from which it was
disseminated, first to tropical islands of the Pacific and northern New Zealand, and later to
tropical Asia and Africa by Spanish and Portuguese explorers and/or traders after Columbus.
Sweet potato is widely grown as one of the important staple food crops in many parts of the
tropics and subtropics. In addition to its importance as human food, sweet potato provides
animal feed and raw material for industrial purposes. It is now grown in areas reaching 40°N
and 40°S latitudes and as high as 2000 m above sea level. Statistics on world production of
sweet potato are obscure, but a rough approximation of about 15 million hectares and 130
million tons, respectively, can be made from the FAO 1973 Production Yearbook.

Sweet potato is grown over a wide range of environmental conditions, including land of
low fertility and relatively low pH where it can still produce a considerable yield. Sweet
potato has good drought tolerance. It requires rela- tively little attention and labor and its
production costs are low compared with other crops. It has the highest solar energy fixing
efficiency among the food crops, primarily because of its tremendous capacity to produce dry
matter for a long period of time. A national average of about 20 tons fresh yield per hectare in
4 to 5 months has been recorded in several countries. This is equivalent to about 6 tons dry
yield. As such it has high production potential and provides food at a time when the staple
diet is in short supply. In some highly populated areas, traditional staple cereals have been
replaced by the high calorie producing sweet potato.

Although sweet potato has been under cultivation for a long time and is economically
important in the tropics and subtropics, little attention has been given to its improvement.
There is however, tremendous potential for sweet potato improvement as human and animal
food as well as for industrial raw materials in the tropics and subtropics.
 B) HARVESTING TECHNIQUE

When to harvest sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are ready to harvest when their tubers begin to poke above ground, and their
vines begin to yellow. If you know what variety you’re planting, you can better guess the
harvest date by looking up their expected grow time.

The conditions in which to harvest sweet potatoes and cure your crop are very important. In
order to properly start the curing, wait for a warm day (above 55F) with no chance of rain as
exposure to water will slow the drying of this root plant. Be sure to harvest well before your
first frost date as frost can severely injure sweet potatoes. Harvest all the plants at once,
and compost the sweet potato if they are disease-free. Be sure to start in the morning,
preferably when there will be a few days of rain-free weather.

How to harvest sweet potatoes

There are two main methods to harvest sweet potatoes. The first is simply digging with
your hands and small hand tools to extract the roots from the ground. It can actually be quite
satisfying to plunge your hands into the earth and feel around in the soil for these wonderful
tubers. Another method is to use a tool called a garden fork. Insert the fork well outside the
growing area of the roots and lift the soil.

Can start digging up the roots as soon as they are big enough for a meal, harvest sweet
potatoes when the leaves and ends of the vines have started turning yellow or about 100 days
from planting. Loosen the soil around each plant (18 inches around, 4 to 6 inches deep) to
avoid injuring the roots. Cut away some of the sweet potatoes. Pull up the plant’s primary
crown and dig up the roots by hand, handle the sweet potatoes carefully as they bruise easily.
After that, shake off any excess dirt. Do not wash your roots right after taking them out of the
ground. It’s alright to leave some soil on the potatoes during the curing process, just brush off
any large mounds of dirt found on the roots. Complete harvesting by the first fall frost.

Curing your harvest

Immediately after harvesting, sweet potatoes need to be cured. During this process the
starches turn to sugar and make the potatoes sweeter, the roots additionally lose moisture
content. Flavor develops over time after harvesting. To correctly cure, leave the potatoes
outside in your garden in the shade for the rest of the day after harvesting. If there is a breeze
all the better. That evening, move the tubers to an area with high humidity and leave them for
7-14 days while they cure. Ideally, try to keep the temperature high, at around 80 degrees if
possible. If in cooler climates, cure for an extra week.
C) POST-HARVEST HANDLING

- Sweet potatoes are perishable and bulky to transport, and packaging is one of the key
steps in post-harvest handling of sweet potatoes.

- Most sweet potatoes are packed in baskets or sacks depending on availability and
transport distance.

- The use of low-quality packages and rough handling are known to result in physical
and quality losses at the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer levels.

- Appropriate packaging equipment and containers are needed not only to facilitate the
safe transport of sweet potatoes, but also for the storage of low-volume produce and
for product presentation in the market.

- The role of packaging is to protect against unwanted weather conditions, facilitate

other storage processes, root supply, marketing and safety in transportation.

- A good packaging technology should address several concerns, among them having
sufficient strength in compression and against impact and vibration, stability during
the value chain, should be affordable, durable and easy to print the loss of fruits and
vegetables after harvest before reaching the consumer is estimated between 30% and
40%.

- Physical and quality losses are mainly due to poor temperature management, use of
low-quality packages, rough handling, and general lack of education on the need to
maintain the quality and safety of perishables at the producer, wholesaler, and retailer
levels.
 D) MARKETING ACTIVITIES

Most medium- to large-volume producers employ a sales agent who has sole responsibility to
locate and contact buyers and to arrange transportation. The sales agent negotiates with the
buyer over the time and place of delivery, the quantity to be sold and the price. For small-
volume producers, marketing options may include direct sales to consumers and selling to
local grocery stores, restaurants or local shipper-packers.
The marketing options include direct sales to consumers and selling to wholesalers or
retailers. During the periods where sweet potato tubers are much more available, the supply
becomes greater than the demand. This causes the producers to sell their products at a low
price.

1) Having or attending an entrepreneurial carnival.

Learn some marketing strategies from attending carnivals. Furthermore, promoting crops to
the general public by opening stalls at entrepreneurial carnivals.

2) Online sales.
Market is categorized into dried, frozen, and fresh. On basis of application, the market can be
categorized into animal feed, beverage, and food.The marketing options include direct sales
to consumers and selling to wholesalers or retailers. During the periods where sweet potato
tubers are much more available, the supply becomes greater than the demand. This causes the
producers to sell their products at a low price.It allows even the smallest companies to
compete with larger companies using highly targeted strategies. Online marketing is suitable
for every business and some may even have more costs than others. A business can find
appropriate solutions based on its marketing goals and Easy to Learn While there are many
aspects of digital marketing that you need to learn, it is fairly easy to get started

in supermarkets)

Market products in supermarkets that attract many customers.Provide the buyer with product
samples, a product list for the full season, and a price list. a copy that you keep for your
records. Build relationships with everyone who handles your product.Able to gain a higher
share of the consumer's dollar, improve their cash flow, and travel shorter distances.Create
Your Own Market.Work With Local Restaurants.
Sell at Farmers Markets.
Reach Out to Small Stores.Certifications and Pricing.