economy

The Dry Field Crop Institute under the Academy of Agricultural Science bred Sugary Sweet Potato No. 1.

The total sugar content of ordinary sweet potato is about 14 percent, but that of this new variety is 32 percent, over two times higher. Therefore, it can be used as a raw material for sugar in the food industry and its stems as vegetable and animal feed.

This sweet potato is boiled and crushed to use as the filling in bread or rice cake as its maltose content becomes the highest a month after harvest.

If you sow its seeds in the seed bed around March 20 and transplant about 20 plants per phyong in late May, you can gather 20-30 tons of the crop per hectare early in October.

Its stem is 150-180cm long, the number of large sweet potatoes per plant is 2.5-3, the weight of sweet potatoes per plant is 500-600g, and the dried substance content is over 33 percent.

According to experts, about two hectares of land is needed to produce 15 tons of corn for obtaining 10 tons of glucose. But when the sugary sweet potato is cultivated in the same area of land, you can produce the quantity of raw material needed for producing 20 tons of glucose. In the process of making glucose, the sweet potatoes are boiled and crushed being converted into sugar in two hours and, therefore, it takes less labour and time and the process is simpler than when using corn and it is effective for business management as it requires no special equipment.

With 25-30 tons of sugary sweet potatoes produced from one hectare, extended cultivation of the vegetables can be done on 50-60 hectares the following year.