To review the priorities for sweet potato germ plasm exploration and collection; To determine the best strategies for sweet potato germ plasm conservation; To establish guidelines for evaluations in the sweet potato collection; To set out strategies for utilizing these genetic resources and establish CIP's breeding priorities; To determine CIP's comparative advantage for research amongst what other institutions are already accomplishing.

In the last four decades of the twentieth century the use of sweetpotato was diversified beyond their classification as subsistence, food security, and famine-relief crop. In developing countries they serve both as human food and for feeding livestock. In Western countries they appeal to health conscious consumers because of their nutritional aspects. The sweetpotato is very high in nutritive value, and merits wider use on this account alone. The book has 2 parts. A general one giving up-to-date information on the history, botany, cultivars, genetic engineering, propagation, diseases and pests, nutritional data and marketing; and a second part presenting data on sweetpotato growing practices in different areas of the world. The information should be useful to researchers, practitioners and crop administrators in different countries.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) is the seventh most important food crop among the root and tuber crops grown in the world which is widely cultivated in tropic, sub tropic and warmer temperate regions. A wide variation exists among sweet potato varieties. The molecular markers Is an important genetic diversity analysis tool for enhancing duplicates identification. The samples were collected based on an elaborative iterative survey as well as traditional knowledge from local people. Thirteen different varieties Ipomoea batatas Lam. varieties (Kuravanpady 1, Kuravanpady 2, Jellipara 1, Jellipara 2, Kottathara, Kadanadu, Kanaka, Aruna, Kanjagad, Cherukizhangu 1, Cherukizhangu 2, Thodupuzha. Palakkad) were used for morphological characterization. Morphological data were collected 60 days after planting based on the descriptors for sweet potato (IBPGR, 1991) in all the 13 samples. The variable scored were twining, plant type, ground cover, vine inter node, vine pigmentation, vine tip pubescence, mature leaf shape, mature leaf size, abaxial leaf vein pigmentation, foliage colour, petiole length, petiole pigmentation, storage root and skin colour. Molecular characterization could be more effectively used in screening varieties among sweet potatoes if coupled with other molecular markers especially ISSR, matK and rbcL markers.

This book provides a fresh, updated perspective of the current status and perspectives in genetic improvement of a diverse array of tropical crops. The first part covers aspects which are relevant across crops, namely how to maximize the use of genetic information through modern bioinformatic approaches and how to use statistics as a tool to sustain increased genetic gains and breeding efficiency. The second part of the book provides an updated view of some seed-propagated crops, such as rice, maize and oil palm, as well as crops propagated through vegetative means such as sweet potato, cassava, banana and sugarcane. Each chapter addresses the main breeding objectives, markets served, current breeding approaches, biotechnology, genetic progress observed, and in addition a glimpse into the future for each of these selected and important tropical crops.

Country and research reports on sweet potato; CIP research and transfer program; Present status and future prospects of sweet potatoes in Bangladesh; Sweet potato production and research in china; Sweet potato production, utilization and constrains in India; Sweet potato production, utilization, and research in Indonesia; Country report of LAO P.D.R. participants; Sweet potato cultivation in Malaysia: a country report; Country paper - papua New Guinea; Sweet potato research and development in the Philippines; The outline for sweet potato in Korea; Sweet potato in Thailand; The Sweet potato in Vietnam; Development and testing of an integrated pest management technique to control sweet potato weevil; Digestibility of sweet potato starch; Sweet potato breeding in Japan: its past, present and future; Recent studies on dry matter production physiology; Sweet potato adaptation studies at North Carolina State University; Nutritional aspects of sweet potato roots and leaves; Sweet potato research at the International Potato Center; Research activities in CIP on sweet potato virus diseases; In vitro sweet potato germplasm management; Strategies to develop sweet potatoes with weevil resistance in developing countries; Important nematode parasites of sweet potatoes and their management; Constraints to sweet potato production and use; Sweet potato production and consumption surveys: variability and varieties; CIP's program for human resources development through training; Workshop on sweet potato improvement in Asia: highlights of session presenting CIP sweet potato research programme.

In 1995, TAC commissioned an Inter-Centre Review of Root and Tuber Crops Research in the CGIAR, and that group's final report was submitted in April 1996. Among its findings, the review recommended that the Centers working on these crops prepare, in consultation with non-CGIAR members, "a comprehensive, documented text that sets out a vision for root and tuber research employing inter-Centre collaborations and institutional partnerships ... "(TAC, 1997). At International Centers' Week 1996, representatives of CIAT, CIP, IFPRI, IPGRI, and IITA met, formed an informal committee, and established a task force to prepare such a report, with CIP and CIAT representatives acting as co-convenors. This document synthesizes the principal findings of the subsequent work. Roots and tuber crops have myriad and complex roles to play in feeding the world in the coming decades. Far from being one sort of crop that serves one specific purpose, they will be many things to many-very many-people.