Assessment of production and marketing constraints and value chain of sweet potato in the municipalities of Dangbo and Bonou

Abstract

Background: Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] plays an important role in ensuring food security and incomes for local communities. It is particularly grown in southern region of Benin, and its production over the last few years has declined due to disease and severe pest infestation. Therefore, it was imperative to carry out this study to identify the main constraints related to the recent decline in sweet production and more specifically analyzing the production and marketing constraints of sweet potato in the townships of Dangbo and Bonou. Results: The results of the survey revealed that many varieties of sweet potato were grown, mainly "Vobodouaho" (local name in Goun language), the most preferred variety by producers. Weedicides and insecticides were used to control weeds and insect pests, respectively. There was no efficient control methods against black rot, Alternaria blight, cylas spp., and caterpillar among the pathogens and insects that damaged sweet potato production in the study areas. The main constraints reducing sweet potato production in the townships of Dangbo and Bonou are: lack of adequate methods for controlling pest and diseases, lack of financial resources due to no access to credit, absence of modern equipment, scarcity and high cost of labor and absence of best methods for long-term storage. The average yield of sweet production per hectare ranged from 6.5 to 15.1 tons fresh matter/ha. The market value of sweet potato is still low at farmers' level when compared to that of other stakeholders along the value chain. Conclusion: This study calls for the attention of public and private sectors and policy makers for more investment in sweet potato research. Avenues for further research on sweet potato have also been suggested.

Farmers’ selection criteria for sweet potato varieties in Benin: An application of Best-Worst Scaling

“…Second, sweet potato production in Benin is mainly dominated by local landraces, which typically provide lower yields than expected. As a result, farmers may reject a variety if its yield performance is lower than the average produced; note that the average yield of these local varieties varied from 4.2 tons to 6.85 tons.ha −1 in Benin (MAEP, 2021), with a cycle ranging from 2.5 to 6 months for those in southern and central Benin (Ezin et al, 2018;Sanoussi et al, 2016). Sweet potato breeding for yield would allow genetic gains of about 20% compared to healthy local varieties (Gruneberg et al, 2004).…”

Assessing the Productivity, Quality and Profitability of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes Grown in Riverbank of the Tista Floodplain Agro-Ecological Zone of Bangladesh

“…The profit may be more or less due to the variation in the yield of sweet potato. The harmful aspects of sweet potato cultivation include lack of sweet potato vines (planting material) at farm level [53], awareness of sweet potato farmers about OFSP, storage capacity [54] and lack of processing facilities, lack of suitability, marketing structure and high marketing costs among producers [53][54][55][56]. The cost and returns analysis showed that labor cost was 33.58% followed by cost of acquisition of vines found 24.47% of the total cost of sweet potato cultivation and profitability of OFSP production.…”

Insect Pest Complex and Beneficial Insects Associated with Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) (Lam.) in Southern Nigeria and Key Pests to Consider in Control Programmes

“…However, economic damage was caused by sweet potato butterfly (Acraea acerata), leaf folders (Brachmia and Helcystogramma spp), sweet potato army worms (Spodoptera spp) and white plume moths (Pterophorus pentadactyla). These species have been reported as major pests of sweet potato in other parts of West Africa [12,13] and they are considered in the current report as the key pests. Pest communities associated with horticultural crops is known to vary, depending on agroclimatic factors [14,15], farming practices [16], presence of alternative hosts [17] and other biotic interactions, which are capable of modulating occurrence, diversity and relative abundance.…”