ABSTRACT
The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the main vegetables grown in Brazil. The aim of this work was to evaluate the agronomic performance of Embrapa sweet potato cultivars in the region of Paranaíba, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The experiments were carried out under field conditions in commercial crops from December 12, 2012 to May 14, 2013 and December 11, 2013 to May 13, 2014. Two experiments were carried out in randomized blocks design with four replications to evaluate eight cultivars (BRS Amelia, Beauregard, Brazlândia Branca, Brazlândia Rosada, Brazlândia Roxa, BRS Cuia, Princesa and BRS Rubissol). Characters related to root dry mass production are highly influenced by the environment, as observed by the ranges of the coefficient of variation from 9.23% of commercial roots mass in relation to total root dry mass and 29.25% to total root mass. No significant differences among cultivars were found for total root mass, average commercial root mass and root shape. The cultivars performed equally well in the two crops. Nevertheless, Brazlândia Roxa, Brazlândia Branca and Beauregard out yielded the rest of the cultivars in 2013, achieving 24.62, 21.25 and 20.69 t/ha respectively. Brazlândia Roxa and Beauregard also showed adequate indexes of root shape and resistance to insects, especially Brazlândia Roxa with a 1.5 score in the two years of evaluation. Among the evaluated cultivars, Beauregard is a good option to the producers of Alto Paranaíba, but the Brazlândia Roxa cultivar, presenting root characteristics that are desirable to the local market preferences with elongated shape, pulp color and purple skin, is the most suited to this region.
Keywords:
Ipomoea batatas; yield; cultivars.