New sweet potato variety developed by ICAR-CTCRI to strengthen tribal food security programmes

The new biofortified pink-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potato developed by ICAR-CTCRI.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

A new orange-fleshed sweet potato variety developed by the ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CTCRI) is set to play a role in strengthening tribal food security programmes in Kerala and elsewhere in the country.

Awaiting formal release, the biofortified orange-fleshed sweet potato, designated SP-95/4, has undergone final trials successfully in multiple States, including Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka and Kerala, officials of the Thiruvananthapuram-based ICAR-CTCRI said.

Bumper yield

In the Attappady tribal region in Kerala, the pink-skinned, orange-fleshed sweet potato has already paid rich dividends to farmers with a bumper yield last week, CTCRI Director G. Byju told The Hindu. Its try-out in Attappady was organised through a convergence of the tuber crop-based Rainbow Diet Programme of the CTCRI and ‘Punarjeevanam,’ a joint initiative of Kudumbashree and the CTCRI.

“This is a highly promising variety. The orange colour due to the presence of 8 mg/100g Beta-carotene is a major feature as vitamin A deficiency is chronic in this region,” Dr. Byju said. Individual tubers weigh an average 300 grams. They also have a fusiform shape which make them ideal for processing. “The final set of trials before the official release was successful in Purulia district of West Bengal, multiple districts in Odisha, Belgaum in Karnataka and Attappady,” he said.

The CTCRI and the Kudumbashree Mission are now planning to expand sweet potato cultivation in Attappady to 100 acres by the end of 2025, S. Shanavas, State Programme Officer (Farm Livelihoods), Kudumbashree, said.

The orange-fleshed sweet potato after harvest in Attappady, Palakkad.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Rainbow diet

The CTCRI had launched the tuber crop-based ‘rainbow diet’ programme at Attappady in 2023 as part of promoting biofortified tubers among tribal communities for battling malnutrition and ensuring a balanced diet. In 2024, it was scaled up under the ’Punarjeevanam’ programme.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is one of the most nutritionally rich tuber crops that can be integrated into health-focussed dietary support strategies for addressing nutritional insecurity and related public health challenges, the CTCRI has noted in a March 2025 document on value addition using this tuber.