September/October 2022 - 5

SWEETS
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sweet flavor and resistance to a host of
soil-borne pests and diseases. He also
enlists LSU AgCenter entomologists,
plant pathologists and nematologists
to help screen lines.
Complicating varietal development
is the two-step sweet potato production
system. Sweet potatoes are propagated
vegetatively using plant cuttings - known
as slips - grown in plant beds. Once
sprouts reach 10 to 12 inches tall, workers
cut them to transplant into the field.
To be considered, an advanced line
must perform well in both plant beds
and the field.
LaBonte's initial work is conducted
at the AgCenter's Sweet Potato
Research Center in Chase, Louisiana.
Advanced lines are then moved into
on-farm field trials in south and north
Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi,
South Carolina and California.
" I think often what we find is a
variety will have a fit some places and
in other places, it just doesn't work, "
he said. " It's really hard to find what I
would call a universal variety. "
Stoddard agreed, saying some LSU
varieties that don't perform well in
Mid-South trials do well in California
and vice versa. As a result, he began
conducting trials with advanced
LSU materials several years ago to
intercept lines that LaBonte would
have pulled because of a poor MidSouth
showing.
Larry Fontenot, who grows sweet
potatoes near Ville Platte, Louisiana,
has been hosting on-farm LSU variety
trials for years. He said he considered
it part of his responsibility as a grower
to support research, particularly for a
minor crop like sweet potatoes.
Arthur Villordon, a plant scientist based at the LSU
AgCenter Sweet Potato Research Center, looks at
sweet potato storage roots grown from uniform
transplant slips. Photo: LSU AgCenter
LSU AgCenter sweet potato breeder Don LaBronte (in tan shirt) directs
activities during an on-farm variety trial at Larry Fontenot's farm near Ville
Platte, Louisiana. Photo: LSU AgCenter
Vermillion, named for its showy purplish-red skin as well as a Louisiana
parish, is the latest release from the LSU AgCenter's sweet potato breeding
program. It holds up well during storage, too. Photo: LSU AgCenter
A tractor near Iota, Louisiana, mows beds of sweet
potato slips to keep them in the desirable 10- to
12-inch range for transplanting. Photo: Vicky Boyd
" It's really hard to find
what I would call a
universal variety. "
− Don LaBonte, LSU AgCenter
" If growers don't assist the breeder,
we're not contributing to the future of
the sweet potato industry, " Fontenot
said. " I feel we're obligated to our
industry and to enhancing the future
of the breeding program, and that
breeding program has been the
lifeblood of our industry. "
A showy 'vermillion' skin
The latest variety from the LSU
program is Vermillion, trialed as LA
13-81. Limited amounts of certified
seed were commercially available
this season. Named for both its eyecatching
purplish-red skin and a
Louisiana parish, Vermillion has deep
orange flesh and resembles Diane - a
LSU AgCenter sweet potato breeder Don
LaBonte takes notes on a variety trial
harvested in Merced County, California.
Photo: University of California
variety widely grown in California.
In trials in Arkansas, South
Carolina, Louisiana and California,
Vermillion had average yields of
No. 1's comparable to Orleans. But
it produced about 10% lower No. 1
yields and 15% less total marketable
yields than Diane in California trials.
Where Vermilion excelled was in
long-term storage, Stoddard said.
" Four months into storage, and our
pack-out was much better. So my take is
Vermillion will be a nice complement to
Scott Stoddard, a UC Cooperative Extension vegetable crops farm advisor for Merced
and Madera counties, checks out bins that are part of a sweet potato variety storage
study. Photo: University of California
Diane, " he said. " You have an early
season with Diane and a later selling
season coming out of storage with
Vermillion to fill that niche. "
The color purple
Since the early 2000s, LaBonte
also has been working to develop an
improved purple sweet potato variety,
considered a holy grail of breeding.
" Actually, I thought it would be a
lot easier, " he said. " The material we
started out with had a pretty primitive
background, so you had to breed in all
of the desirable disease-resistance traits,
shape, yield as well as flavor. Getting all
of that in one package has really taken
longer than I had expected. "
That said, LaBonte has a couple of
advanced purple lines that are " quite
attractive, " have a sweet flavor and
a moister texture than some current
varieties. Only time - and strong
performance in additional variety
trials - will tell whether they are
commercialized. VGN
VGN | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 | 5
September/October 2022

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