Enhancing growth and yield of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) through fertilizer supplementation strategies

Organic fertilizers in sweet potato cultivation enhance soil fertility, boost crop productivity, and ensure food security, especially in staple potato-producing regions. Organic sweet potatoes have improved nutritional profiles, addressing malnutrition and supporting SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. Additionally, organic inputs reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals, aligning with SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 13: Climate Action. This study evaluates various organic fertilizer sources on the growth, yield, and quality of three sweet potato varieties—Bintong, Bengueta, and Okinawan. A split-plot design was used, with variety as the main plot and six fertilizer treatments as subplots: full NPK, reduced NPK, and reduced NPK supplemented with vermichar, vermicompost, biochar, and Black Soldier Fly (BSF) frass. Results revealed that Bengueta exhibited the highest computed yield (15.43 t/ha), though differences among varieties were not statistically significant. Among fertilizer treatments, BSF frass combined with reduced NPK significantly produced the highest yield (15.94 t/ha), followed by vermicompost (15.67 t/ha), highlighting the potential of organic amendments to outperform full synthetic fertilizer in tuber production. Combinations like Bengueta × Biochar and Bintong × Vermichar demonstrated superior performance in yield and Total Soil Stability (TSS). Bengueta is recommended for high-yielding production, while BSF frass and biochar are effective organic inputs for improving yield and quality, with future research validating these findings across various environments. published by the International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research | IJAAR