Community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings

Boost Your Yield and Cut Costs with Community-Sourced Sweet Potato Vines.

Community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings is a scalable agricultural approach designed to enhance the availability, access, and quality of planting materials for sweet potato cultivation in rural communities. This technology is based on a collaborative effort involving multiple stakeholders and local farmers. By organizing and implementing this approach, communities can address several key challenges related to sweet potato cultivation like enhanced availability and access, quality control, cost reduction, specialized involvement, pest and disease management, timely distribution, and local resource utilization. The technology is a comprehensive approach that is not only addresses the challenges of availability and quality but also contributes to lowering costs, improving crop resilience, and supporting smallholder farmers. It is adaptable to local conditions, making it a valuable technology for rural communities.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

5•5

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 5/9; level of use 5/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

Adult farmers can benefit from increased income by selling high-quality planting materials or improved crop yields from using better-quality vines.

The poor: Positive high

Poor farmers can benefit from the lower prices generated by community-based multiplication systems, making it easier for them to access high-quality vines.

Under 18: Positive medium

It provides young people with job opportunities in agriculture, especially in activities such as vine cultivation, greenhouse management, and the marketing of planting materials.

Women: Positive medium

Women can become key stakeholders in vine multiplication, helping them gain more influence in household and community decision-making.

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

The multiplication of drought-tolerant and disease-resistant sweet potato varieties enhances the crop’s adaptability to changing climate conditions, such as erratic rainfall and rising temperatures.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Farmers become better prepared for climate variability by accessing improved planting materials that are more resilient to environmental stresses. This enhances their capacity to maintain productivity under changing climate conditions.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

By multiplying different varieties of sweet potato, including local landraces and hybrids, the technology helps conserve crop biodiversity, which is critical for ecological resilience and long-term food security.

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Community-based multiplication systems often operate at a local scale, reducing transportation needs for planting materials. This lowers the carbon footprint associated with distribution.

Environmental health: Greatly improves environmental health

The use of disease-resistant sweet potato varieties reduces the reliance on pesticides, promoting healthier ecosystems by minimizing chemical runoff and soil contamination.

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Certain sweet potato varieties can contribute to improved soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. The technology promotes the use of these varieties, leading to enhanced soil quality and reduced dependence on synthetic fertilizers.

Water use: Much less water used

The technology encourages the use of drought-tolerant sweet potato varieties that require less water, promoting water conservation in areas facing water scarcity.

Problem

Limited availability, access, and quality of sweet potato planting material in rural communities.
Lack of quality control and high retail prices for planting materials.
Challenges in smallholder farmer landscapes with limited infrastructure and market access.
Difficulty in maintaining hybrid and resistant sweet potato varieties.
Vulnerability to pests and diseases.
Limited cost-effective production of planting materials.
Inefficiencies in distributing planting materials to farmers

Solution

Organizing community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings at a medium to large scale.
Establishing strong linkages between multipliers and sellers for a reliable and cost-effective supply.
Improving quality control and reducing retail prices.
Enhancing access to quality planting materials.
Engaging specialists for better maintenance of hybrid and resistant varieties.
Protecting against pests and diseases.
Achieving cost savings through economies of scale.
Providing hardened planting materials closer to the fields.
Effective release and maintenance of improved varieties.
Improving distribution at the start of rainy seasons.
Using basic materials found locally for multiplication, including tent-style greenhouses, fertilizers, and disease control agents.

Key points to design your project

The community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings can have significant impacts on gender equality, climate resilience, and multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In terms of gender equality (SDG 5), this technology can empower women by providing them with access to resources and opportunities in agriculture. Women can take an active role in the multiplication process, which can enhance their economic independence and decision-making power in the household.

Regarding climate resilience (SDG 13), sweet potatoes are known for their ability to thrive in diverse climatic conditions, making them a resilient crop in the face of climate change. By enhancing the availability and quality of sweet potato planting material, communities can ensure a stable food supply even under changing environmental conditions.

Finally, this technology can contribute to multiple other SDGs. For instance, it can help to end hunger (SDG 2) by increasing crop yields, promote decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) by creating job opportunities in agriculture, and support responsible consumption and production (SDG 12) by promoting sustainable farming practices. Thus, the integration of this technology into agricultural projects can have far-reaching benefits for sustainable development.

To integrate the community-based multiplication of sweet potato vines and cuttings into a project follow these steps:

Project Planning

● Define the project's objectives and goals. The main goal should be to enhance the availability, access, and quality of sweet potato planting material in rural communities.

● Identify the stakeholders involved in the project. This could include local farmers, agricultural specialists, and community leaders.

Dissemination of Advantages

● Organize workshops or meetings to disseminate the advantages of community-based multiplication to stakeholders. This includes explaining how this approach can improve the quality control of planting materials and lower its retail prices.

Planning of Multiplier Sites

● Identify suitable locations for the multiplication sites. Consider factors such as material costs and transport distances.

● Plan the layout of the multiplier sites, including the placement of greenhouses, irrigation systems, and other necessary infrastructure.

Procurement of Planting Materials

● Obtain a small number of certified cuttings or seed potatoes from breeders.

● Grow rooted cuttings and vines in the screen house

Implementation of Multiplication Process

● Implement the multiplication process using basic materials that can be found locally, including tent-style greenhouses, fertilizers, and disease control agents.

● For advanced multiplier setups, consider using assets like drip irrigation and other mechanized tools that reduce labor costs.

Quality Control and Pest Management

● Engage specialists for better maintenance of hybrid and resistant varieties.

● Implement measures for better protection against pests and diseases.

Distribution of Planting Materials

● Organize the distribution of planting materials to farmers. This should be done at the start of the rainy seasons to ensure optimal growth.

Monitoring and Evaluation

● Regularly monitor the progress of the project and evaluate its impact on the community. This could involve tracking the yield of sweet potato crops, assessing the quality of the planting materials, and gathering feedback from the farmers and other stakeholders.

Remember, the success of this project depends on the collaboration and participation of the entire community. It's important to keep everyone involved and informed throughout the process.

Cost: $$$

10,000 USD

Capital investments for a screen house, irrigation system, fertilizers and disease control agents to set up a sweet potato multiplication site Per 0.4 ha

IP

Open source / open access

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

It helps increase crop yields and ensures a stable supply of nutritious food, particularly for communities vulnerable to food insecurity.

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

The multiplication of sweet potato vines generates employment opportunities for local farmers, seed multipliers, and laborers.

Goal 12: responsible production and consumption

It supports sustainable agricultural production, reducing the need for chemical inputs and enhancing the efficiency of resource use.

These steps are required for effectiveness production of sweet potato planting materials to enhance the availability and quality of planting material in rural communities.

Tissue Culture Production: Public and private sector breeders produce tissue culture plantlets from improved sweet potato varieties within a laboratory.
Cutting into Mother Plants: The tissue culture plantlets are then cut into more than 15 mother plants.
Distribution to Community-Based Multipliers: Community-based multipliers obtain a small number of certified cuttings or seed potatoes from the breeders.
Rooted Cutting and Vine Production: The multipliers use these certified cuttings or seed potatoes to grow rooted cuttings and vines.