<b>Path analysis in characters of yield of sweet potato clones (<em>Ipomoea batatas</em> (L.) Lam)</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actasciagron.v28i2.1119

Abstract

The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) is a tuberous vegetable of large adaptation, cultivated in all Brazilian regions that is used for human being or animal feeding. In Brazil, it is cultivated 43,900 ha with an average yield of 11.035 kg ha^-1. Despite the importance of this crop to Brazilian agriculture very little is known about the factors involved in the production of commercial roots. The objective of this work was to identify which variables are related to the yield of commercial roots, using path analysis. The following variables were evaluated: yield of commercial roots (YCR), length of the root (LR), diameter of the root (DR), number of commercial roots (NRC), weight of the aerial part (WAP), yield of non commercial roots (YNCR), resistance to the root borer (RRB), and resistance to the white rust (RWR). The results showed that DR is main variable responsible for the YCR variation. The variables LR, NRC, WAP, YNCR, RRB, and RWR did not present significant effects on the YCR.