Environmental Best Management Practices for Sweet Potato Cultivation

By: Tara P. Smith, Arthur Villordon, Ron E. Sheffield, Brian D. LeBlanc, and Karen Nix

Sweet potatoes are an important agricultural commodity in Louisiana. The total acreage planted in 2011 was approximately 13,000 acres, and most sweet potatoes are grown in nine parishes: West Carroll, Morehouse, Franklin, Avoyelles, St. Landry, Evangeline, Acadia, Rapides, and Richland.

The gross farm value of Louisiana-grown sweet potatoes in 2011 was just over $81 million. The value added for the sweet potato crop is determined by the increase in value of the harvested potatoes that are washed, graded, packed, processed and shipped into fresh and processing venues and it totaled about $60 million that year. The total economic value of the sweet potato crop to Louisiana in 2011 was $141 million.

(Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Pub. 2832)

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