Replication Data for: Comparative analysis for producing quality sweetpotato vines using sandponics and conventional systems

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), conventionally, sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) pre-basic seed is multiplied in screenhouses using sterilized soil substrate. This makes pre-basic seed to be expensive for basic seed multipliers and thereby a challenge in delivering economically viable option for further multiplication for root producers to access low cost quality planting materials. Sandponics is postulated to be an alternative to the conventional sweetpotato pre-basic seed multiplication, but it’s cost-effectiveness is unknown compared with the conventional approach. A Study was conducted at Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service – Plant Quarantine and Biosecurity Station, Muguga, Kenya to determine the cost-effectiveness for sweetpotato pre-basic seed generation in the two distinct vine propagation systems using genotypes Irene, Kabode, Ejumula and Gweri. Results showed a significant increase in the vine multiplication rate in the sandponics by 21.8% compared with the conventional vine propagation. The cost of producing one sweetpotato node in sandponics was significantly lower by 0.009 US$ compared with conventional system. However, the cost-effectiveness of producing vines in sandponics varied among the genotypes with Ejumula being the most cost-effective and Gweri the least cost-effective. The cost of producing one node for Ejumula significantly reduces by 0.012 US$ when compared to the cost of producing a similar node conventionally. On the other hand, the cost of producing one node of Gweri in sandponics significantly reduces by 0.007 US$ compared with the conventional system. Therefore, sandponics technology can be more cost-effective for specific genotypes.