Economics of sweetpotato production and marketing

Abstract

The major Roots and Tubers, Cassava, Potato, Sweetpotato and Yam occupied about 53.93 million ha world wide, producing 736.747 million tonnes annually (FAO, 2008). Individually Cassava, Potato, Sweetpotato and Yam rank among the most important food crops worldwide and in terms of annual volume of production. Cassava, Potato and Sweetpotato rank among the top ten food crops produced in developing countries. Many of the developing world's poorest producers and the most undernourished house holds depend on roots and tubers as an important source of food and nutrition (Scott et al., 2000). Roots and tubers produce large quantities of energy per day, in comparison of cereals.