Use of Organic Nitrogen Sources for Sweetpotatoes: Production Potential and Economic Feasibility

Use of Organic Nitrogen Sources for Sweetpotatoes: Production Potential and Economic Feasibility

Summary

(1) To evaluate yield, quality, and nitrogen cycling in sweet potatoes using crimson clover as an organic source of nitrogen in different soil types in the Southeast.

(2) To evaluate the effect of crimson clover as an organic N source on nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of different sweetpotato genotypes (including the effect of time of N availability relative to vine growth, storage root initiation and storage root bulking of individual genotypes) to determine potential for selecting for NUE.

(3) To evaluate the effect of crimson clover as an organic N source on sweetpotato and corn yield and quality (including observational data on disease, insect and weed problems) in a two-year rotation cycle when replacing all or part of the N applied from inorganic sources in the two-year cycle.

(4) To determine the economic feasibility of using crimson clover as an organic source of nitrogen for sweetpotato alone and in a two-year rotation cycle with corn.