Evaluation of Inter Family Variations in Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas L.Lam) Using Root Descriptors

The result obtained from a field experiment conducted in 2014 showed that full-sib progenies like ZB002(22.46), F002(24.86), F009(18.43) and G004(10.72) all had better performance in terms of total number of roots, low virus incidence and severity. Half-sib progenies like C082(19.01) and B050b (9.00) had a high total number of roots per plot but lower than that obtained from full-sib progenies. When compared with check varieties in terms of total number of roots, total root weight and yield in tons per hectare, the check variety TIS87/0087BLK1 gave a high total number of roots(28.19), total root weight (7.34kg/plot) and yield in turns per hectare (8.86t/h) as compared to progenies of both and full-sib families considered. A highly significant relationship (P<0.05) was observed among the root descriptor traits measured between the half and full-sib families. From the result obtained from the half-sib progenies, the number of marketable roots had a strong positive correlation with the number of unmarketable roots (r=0.402**), marketable roots weight (r=0.316*), total number of roots (r=0.757**) and total root weight (r=0.750**). Also, from the result obtained from the full-sib families, the number of marketable roots had a strong positive association with the marketable roots weight (r=0.756), total number of roots (r=0.625**) and total roots weight (r=0.426**).