January 2019 Articles

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Yammin’ Around

Yammin’ Around
Looking back on the 2018 sweet potato crop year you could describe it in several words- wet, planting and harvest delays, ideal conditions sometimes, dry, plant issues. As growers you probably experienced all of this and more. At the present time growers with acreage remaining to be harvested are experiencing a wet harvest and severe delays. Some potato breakdown is being found in fields and with the amount of soil remaining on the roots, it is likely that more breakdown will present in storage. Yields for some fields have been above average while others have fallen short.
Louisiana acreage dropped 1,150 acres this year, compared to 2017 with total planted acreage estimated to be 7,800 acres. Louisiana’s lowest acreage in recent history was 7,300 acres in 2013. Decline in this year’s acreage can be attributed to some growers reducing acreage and retirements in the industry.
Even with the acreage reductions of 2018 and the issues we have encountered this season Louisiana remains a viable and important contributor to the nations sweet potato supply. A lot of international visitors travel to Louisiana to look at our sweet potato research programs and on farm production practices. They are interested in what Louisiana is doing in sweet potatoes and want to learn from us.
The Louisiana sweet potato industry was faced with a new issue in 2018. This was the accidental introduction of Guava Root Knot Nematode bought in on non-certified seed from North Carolina. Our research and extension team, sweet potato industry and regulatory agencies stepped up to deal with this issue. Educational and advisory meetings were held on this issue to inform producers about this nematode and how to recognize damage and manage this pest if it is detected. This pest presents a challenge to our industry but reminds me how much knowledge and expertise we have in Louisiana on sweet potato. All scientific disciplines and regulatory agencies working in sweet potatoes were involved in this effort.
Louisiana will host the 57th U. S Sweet Potato in New Orleans, January 20-22, 2019. More information is available on the website: sweetpotatoconvention2019.com.
Louisiana State Sweet Potato Meeting will be Jan 8-9, 2019 at LSU AgCenter Dewitt Livestock Facility adjacent to the LSUA campus in Alexandria, LA. Source: Myrl Sistrunk, Extension Associate-Sweet Potato LSU AgCenter, MSistrunk@agcenter.lsu.edu