Field Crop 2025, Vol.8, No.1, 11-19 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/fc 16 There is a reason why orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are particularly valued-they have a high content of β-carotene and are particularly effective in preventing vitamin A deficiency (Brouwer et al., 2023). The varieties Bophelo and Ndou promoted in South Africa are good. They are both hunger-resistant and drought-resistant, and farmers can grow them without any worries. But having good varieties is not enough. The key is to make people willing to grow and afford them, so that this thing can be considered a real success. 7.2 Breeding process and technological application Sweet potato breeding now uses a mixture of traditional methods and new technologies. Interestingly, tools like CropInd (Rosero et al., 2023) can help screen out good varieties that perform stably in different places. However, performance alone is not enough. SSR markers are now used (Zhang et al., 2016), which can accurately find plants with high starch and β-carotene content, greatly improving breeding efficiency. The most eye-catching is gene editing technologies such as CRISPR (Hameed et al., 2018), which can improve varieties without transferring exogenous genes, solving regulatory problems and making them more acceptable to consumers. In the final analysis, breeding is becoming more and more scientific, but the ultimate goal is to grow sweet potatoes that are more delicious and nutritious. 7.3 Agronomic performance and market feedback What farmers value most when choosing sweet potato varieties is actual performance-whether it can produce high yields, save fertilizers, and sell well. The orange-fleshed NASPOT-12 is a typical example. As long as the nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are properly matched, the yield and nutrient absorption are excellent (Lemma et al., 2023). Interestingly, when these varieties were promoted in southern Ethiopia, some dietary education was carried out in conjunction with it, and the effect was surprisingly good, and the people's eating habits improved. Now varieties such as Bophelo and Ndou are particularly popular in the market (Laurie et al., 2022). They are not only nutritious, but also very resistant to drought. Promoting these varieties can not only solve the problem of eating, but also improve malnutrition, which is a two-pronged approach. But in the final analysis, no matter how good the new varieties are, farmers have to be willing to plant them, so actual performance is the hard truth. 8 Global Impact of Fortified Sweet Potatoes 8.1 Major findings and the impact of fortification When studying sweet potato varieties, we found that there are significant nutritional differences between varieties of different colors. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are particularly outstanding in this regard, with high levels of nutrients such as vitamin A and flavonoids (Sinkovič et al., 2017). Interestingly, fertilization methods have a great impact on yields-the variety NASPOT-12 performs best under a specific nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer ratio and has a particularly high nutrient absorption efficiency. However, having good varieties alone is not enough. When we piloted in Ethiopia, we found that the effect would be better if we carried out nutrition knowledge promotion in conjunction with it. After local farmers began to get used to growing and eating these orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, the dietary structure of the entire community improved. This also shows that the most effective way to solve the problem of malnutrition is to work on both variety improvement and dietary habits at the same time. 8.2 Implications for sweet potato breeding and agricultural production This study really points the way for sweet potato breeding. Look at those orange-fleshed varieties (OFSP), which are not only nutritious, but also perform particularly well under reasonable fertilization conditions (Xiong et al., 2022). This reminds breeders that in the future, when selecting new varieties, they can't just focus on yield, but also take nutritional content into consideration. Interestingly, we found that fertilization is quite particular. The same variety, with different ratios of fertilizers, will eventually grow different quality. This shows that good varieties must be accompanied by scientific planting methods. Combining breeding and agronomic measures can not only ensure yield but also improve nutritional value, which is a win-win choice for sustainable agriculture. But then again, how to operate in each place must be adjusted according to local conditions. After all, agriculture is most about adapting to local conditions.
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