Product Type: Vegetables – Sweet Potato
Stage: Production & Harvesting
Problem: Weather and disease conditions which decrease sweet potato survivability
Solution: Government research partnership to develop drought and fungal rot-resistant sweet potato cultivar

1. Sweet potatoes are susceptible to water loss and are sensitive to drought conditions. Damage to sweet potato periderm results in fungal infection and rot which renders sweet potatoes unfit for consumption.
2. A sweet potato breeding program is establishes to deliver new cultivars designed for agronomic performance.
3. Government support for plant breeding develops new cultivars through work with germ-plasm collections which hold wide genetic diversity. Genomics research isolates and selects genes with most potential for commercial success.
   
4. “SPFR2” cultivar, marketed as “Orange Sunset,” has improved resistance to fungal rot and increased tolerance to drought conditions. These characteristics prevent loss in production and storage and are the result of government research partnerships that help reduce postharvest losses.