Compendium of Sweetpotato Diseases, Pests, and Disorders, Second Edition arrives as sweetpotato production is increasing dramatically in the United States, expanding to states that have not traditionally produced the crop, and as sweetpotato is being adopted as a critical source of vitamin A in many countries around the world. Nearly 50% longer than the previous edition, this is the most comprehensive book ever published describing the many diseases, insect pests, nutrient disorders, herbicide damage, and other disorders affecting the world’s seventh most important food crop.
The second edition contains 325 color photographs (an increase of 243 compared with the previous edition) depicting the diagnostic symptoms of these diseases and disorders. These features make the book invaluable to growers, extension specialists, and diagnosticians in their efforts to accurately identify diseases and disorders they find on sweetpotatoes and to develop strategies to manage these problems.
This book provides the most up-to-date and authoritative information available on each disease prepared by leading experts in each discipline.Each section has a comprehensive list of the critical research publications that will allow researchers to quickly dive into work on diseases that may be new to them.
The insect section is completely new. The virus section has been entirely rewritten to reflect the vast progress made in the last 25 years in understanding sweetpotato virus diseases. The nutrient disorder and herbicide injury sections have been completely rewritten and illustrated using photographs of symptoms produced under carefully controlled conditions to assure complete accuracy. The nematode section has been completely rewritten and every section provides the most recent information available.
Contributing editors, Clark, Ferrin, Smith, and Holmes have gathered a diverse group of talented scientists to create a comprehensive compendium that presents information on diseases, disorders, and pests occurring worldwide.
Did you know?
To find out why the book's title went from "sweet potato" to "sweetpotato," click the preview tab above and turn to the "What's in a name?" section.
From the Preface
Phillip D. Dukes, a plant pathologist who contributed much to the development of practical control of sweetpotato diseases, wrote the following poem, which was published in 1988 in Fifty Years of Cooperative Sweetpotato Research, edited by A. Jones and J. C. Bouwkamp:
Ipomoea batatas is its botanical name
Tasty roots—its reason for fame.
A dependable yield under adverse condition.
Many survived due to its superior nutrition.
For much of its history, sweetpotato has been a crop that has helped people survive harsh times: depression in the United States, typhoons in Asia, wars worldwide, and more. As a result, sweetpotato was often regarded as “a poor man’s crop” and received scant attention from research and extension personnel. This second edition of the Compendium of Sweetpotato Diseases, Pests, and Disorders comes as the crop is experiencing a renaissance in the United States, with percapita consumption increasing in response to increased knowledge about the nutritional attributes of the crop and with increased availability of sweetpotato products such as chips and french fries.
This compendium is intended to serve as an updated, comprehensive source of information on diseases, pests, and other problems that occur in the production, storage, and handling of sweetpotatoes. As much as possible, it is international in scope and indicates the countries in which diseases, pests, and disorders are known to occur. However, readers should understand that because the crop has received less attention than it is due, knowledge of the geographic distributions of pathogens and pests is incomplete. Thus, disease occurrences may extend to other countries and additional diseases and pests may be important in some parts of the world.
The first edition of the Compendium of Sweet Potato Diseases honored the contributions of Weston J. Martin, at the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University, and Lowell W. Nielsen, at North Carolina State University. Their efforts in identifying and, more importantly, developing practical control procedures for sweetpotato diseases helped make it practical to undertake the task of compiling the first compendium.
The first edition was written by C. A. Clark and J. W. Moyer but supported by great assistance from contributors of photographs, translations of sweetpotato research articles, information on occurrence of sweetpotato diseases, and critical reviews of the manuscript—all of which were acknowledged in the first edition.
The second edition includes a new section on pests and completely rewritten sections on nematode and virus diseases, herbicide damage, and nutrient disorders. All other sections have been updated and expanded, as well. The text has been written by a team of experts.