Effect of planting methods on growth and yield of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) varieties at Luyengo, midlevel of Eswatini

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is the most grown storage root crop in Eswatini. However, its storage root yield is low among smallholder farmers partly due to use of inappropriate varieties and agronomic practices such as planting method. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at the University of Eswatini, Faculty of Agriculture, Luyengo, during 2019/2020 cropping season to determine the effects of planting method on growth and yield of the three sweet potato varieties. Two planting methods, namely horizontal and vertical; and three sweet potato varieties, namely Kenya-white, Ligwalagwala and Lamngititi were evaluated in a factorial arrangement in randomized complete block design in three replications. Results showed non-significant difference between the planting methods in most growth and yield parameters recorded for the sweet potato varieties. However, the vertical method of planting had relatively higher vine length, number of branches, mass of storage roots and storage root yield than the horizontal method. On the other hand, there were significant (P<0.05) differences among the sweet potato varieties for most of parameters recorded. The sweet potato variety Ligwalagwala had the highest vine length, number of storage roots per plant (6.47), mass of storage roots per plant (1137 g) and storage root yield (12.01 tonnes/ha). Thus, either horizontal or vertical method of planting and variety Ligwalagwala can be used to increase the productivity of sweet potato in the study area.