The overriding objective of each national clean plant network sweet potato center is production of healthy, commercially important a ccessions and newly developed breeding materials for the benefit of…

This $159,887 federal Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025) supports the operations of the MSU-Pontotoc Branch Center of the National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) Sweet Potato Center. The key objectives are to: 1) Maintain and test existing nuclear stock sweet potato plant materials, 2) Perform pathogen elimination and testing on new breeding lines and cultivars, 3) Develop protocols for virus elimination and nuclear stock maintenance, and 4) Implement effective methods for eliminating NCPN-targeted pathogens. The award enables the center to produce and sell an estimated 50,000 sweet potato slips to commercial and certified growers for greenhouse propagation, as well as provide additional vine cuttings based on industry demand. The overall goal is to support sustainable sweet potato production practices that increase yields, reduce inputs, and improve economic returns for the industry.

The overriding objective of each national clean plant network sweet potato center is production of healthy, commercially important a ccessions and newly developed breeding materials for the benefit of industry members. Specifically, the MSU-pontotoc branch center goals and objectives are directed at the following priorities: 1) maintain existing clean plant material at involved ncpn centers (i.e., nuclear stocks) including periodic retesting, 2) perform pathogen-elimination therapy and testing on all new advanced breeding l ines and cultivars and existing selections as demand dictates, 3) conduct and develop protocols for virus elimination, propagation and maintenance of nuclear stocks that maintains trueness to type, 4) conduct and develop most appropriate methods for effective and rapid elimination of ncpn-targeted pathogens. The mississippi center will sell an estimated 50,000 slips to commercial and certified growers to be grown and propagated in privately owned greenhouses for slip production. In addition, MS will have the capacity to provide additional vine cuttings based on industry demand. The ultimate goal is greater capacity of sustainable practices of sweetpotato production resulting in increased yield, reduced inputs, increased efficiency, increased economic return, and/or conservation of resources for the sweet potato industry