Sweetpotato (‘Ipomoea batatas’) is a herbaceous, perennial plant that belongs to the Convolvulaceae family.
Sweetpotato was probably domesticated more than 5,000 years ago, in South America and/or Central America.
Today, it is the world’s seventh most important food crop, with more than 133 million tonnes produced globally per year, mostly in developing countries.
Although its growth habit is mainly prostrate, it varies from erect and semi-erect to spreading, with a vine system that can expand rapidly along the ground.
A wide range of additional information about sweetpotato can be found at the Sweetpotato Knowledge Portal.
Major sweetpotato collections
The largest genebank collection is held by CIP in Peru with smaller collections in USDA genebanks in the USA.