Abstract:
Overview of sweetpotato research and development in Uganda-this paper summarises the history of sweetpotato introduction into Uganda and major research achievements made during the period. Twelve sweetpotato varieties with qualities of high yield, resistance to sweetpotato virus disease and Altemaria spp. and one variety, NASPOT 5, with high beta-carotene content were released officially by the Ministry of Agriculture. Production packages like appropriate seed-bed types, plant density, intercropping pattern for sweetpotato and sweetpotato-based cropping systems were developed for some agro-ecologies. Pheromones and pheromone traps were developed and used for monitoring weevil populations. Technology has been used to prove that Cylas brunneus and C. puncticollis or the African sweetpotato weevils (SPW) are the major weevil species in Uganda and African continent, and that C. formicarius is rare in the continent.