Evaluating Regeneration Protocols of Sweet Potato in Tissue Culture

Tissue culture techniques have opened a new frontier in agricultural science for addressing food security and poverty. These techniques have involved the development of suitable regeneration protocols that can reduce disease infestation by producing healthy plants rapidly and increase crop yields. Research focus has been to produce a transgenic sweet potato (I. batatas) with ability to resist viral disease. The success in its production is dependant on the reliability and efficiency of the regeneration protocol used. A study was conducted to determine an efficient tissue culture protocol for rapid regeneration and multiplication of 5 local sweet potato cultivars. Var Zapallo at 0.5mgL-1 was found to be the most responsive while under field conditions significant interaction between the test cultivars and regeneration method was found. With a suitable plant regeneration protocol determined, massive good quality sweet potato farmers with reduced disease incidences would be produced and availed to the farmer hence better and higher yields resulting in increased food security, income which will boost and solve some agricultural problems in Kenya and Africa at large.