Weed management is consistently ranked among the top priorities of the United States sweetpotato industry. To provide additional weed and insect management strategies for sweetpotato, we initiated development of insect-resistant germplasm that also has weed tolerance by breeding and selecting for sweetpotato clones that are fast growing and have semi-erect to erect canopy architecture. Field studies were conducted in 2018 and 2019 in Charleston, South Carolina, to quantify the effects of weed-free interval and sweetpotato clone on weed counts for naturally occurring weed species, storage root yield, and insect resistance to the major pests of sweetpotato. Weed-free intervals included plots that were weedy all season and weed-free for 2, 3, and 4 wk after transplanting. Sweetpotato clones evaluated included ‘Beauregard’, ‘Covington’, ‘Monaco’, and six advanced selections with semi-erect to erect plant habit. Significant weed-free interval and sweetpotato clone main effects were observed for all variables measured, but not for their interaction. Two sweetpotato clones, USDA-17-037 and USDA-17-077, were consistent across both years and had the lowest weed counts, exhibited enhanced insect resistance, and were the highest yielding entries. These results demonstrate the potential for development of insect-resistant sweetpotato germplasm with a vigorous, erect plant habit that may be less susceptible to weed interference than cultivars with spreading shoot growth. The combination of germplasm that is both resistant to insect pests and competitive with weeds can provide organic and subsistence sweetpotato growers solutions to these critical issues related to sweetpotato production.

Field studies were conducted to determine the influence of herbicides on the development of internal necrosis (IN) in sweetpotato storage roots. In a slip propagation study, herbicide treatments included PRE application (immediately after covering seed roots with soil) of clomazone (0.42, 0.84 kg ai ha-1), flumioxazin (0.11, 0.21 kg ai ha-1), fomesafen (0.28, 0.56 kg ai ha-1), linuron (0.56, 1.12 kg ai ha-1), S-metolachlor (0.8, 1.6 kg ai ha-1), flumioxazin plus S-metolachlor (0.11 + 0.8 or 1.6 kg ha-1), and napropamide (1.12, 2.24 kg ai ha-1), and POST application (2 to 4 wk prior to cutting slips) of ethephon (0.84, 1.26 kg ai ha-1) and paraquat (0.14, 0.28 kg ai ha-1). In a field production study, flumioxazin, fomesafen, linuron, and paraquat were applied PREPLANT (one d prior to sweetpotato transplanting), clomazone, S-metolachlor, and napropamide were applied PRE [4 d after transplanting (DAP)], flumioxazin PREPLANT followed by (fb) S-metolachlor PRE, and ethephon applied POST (2 wk prior to harvest). Herbicide rates were similar to those used in the slip propagation study. Yield of sweetpotato in both studies was not affected by herbicide treatment. In both studies, IN incidence and severity increased with time and was greatest at 60 d after curing. No difference was observed between herbicide treatments for IN incidence and severity in the slip production study which indicates herbicide application at time of slip propagation does not impact the development of IN. In the field production study, the only treatment that increased IN incidence compared to the nontreated was ethephon with 53% and 2.3 incidence and severity, respectively. The presence of IN affected roots in nontreated plots indicates that some other pre- or post-curing factors other than herbicides are responsible for the development of IN. However, the ethephon application prior to sweetpotato root harvest escalates the development of IN.

Field studies were conducted at the Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station in Pontotoc, MS in 2015 and 2016 to determine the influence of lay-by metribuzin application on weed control and sweetpotato crop response. With the exception of weedy and hand-weeded checks, all plots received flumioxazin at 107 gaiha−1 pre-transplanting followed by (fb) clomazone at 1,120 gaiha−1 immediately after transplanting. Lay-by treatments consisted of S-metolachlor (800 gaiha−1), metribuzin (210 or 315 gaiha−1), metribuzin (210 gha−1) plus napropamide (1,120 gaiha−1), and metribuzin (210 gha−1) plus S-metolachlor (800 gha−1). At 4 weeks after transplanting, sweetpotato crop injury was 3 to 15%, but was transient and not evident after 6 (2015) to 8 weeks after transplanting (2016). Season-long weed control was excellent (≥98%) for all herbicide treatments used in the study. Hand-weeded check plots yielded 4,600; 18,350; 28,770; and 1,520 kgha−1 of jumbo, No. 1, marketable, and cull grades, respectively. Jumbo, No. 1, and marketable yields from all herbicide-containing treatments in the study were greater than the weedy check and similar to the hand-weeded check. For all treatments, the portion of yield graded as cull was similar to the hand-weeded check. Canner yield response differed between years. In general, canner yield was greater in 2016 (8,460 to 10,670 kgha−1) than 2015 (1,570 to 3,570 kgha−1). In both years, canner yield in all treatments was similar to the hand-weeded check with one exception: in 2015 sweetpotato receiving metribuzin plus napropamide yielded more canners (3,570 kgha−1) than the hand-weeded check (2,300 kgha−1).

Studies were conducted to determine the response of ‘Jewel’ sweetpotato in propagation beds to DCPA and napropamide. Napropamide at 2.2 and 4.4 kg ha–1 caused slight injury, and reduced plant number and weight when compared with the untreated control. Napropamide at 1.1 kg ha–1 combined with chloramben at 3.3 kg ha–1 was not injurious; plant production was equal to the untreated control, diphenamid at 4.4 kg ha–1, and chloramben at 3.3 kg ha–1. DCPA at 8.3 and 10.0 kg ha–1 caused unacceptable injury and reduced plant number and weight.