Bridging Genomics and Traditional Knowledge in Sweetpotato: A Scientometric Pathway for Participatory Breeding

Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is a globally important root crop cultivated in more than one hundred countries. To map how genetics research has evolved and where actionable gaps remain, we conducted a scientometric analysis of 590 records from Web of Science covering 1960 to 2022, of which 213 full-text papers were retained after relevance filtering. Output increased sharply over the last two decades, with the United States, China, and Brazil among the most prolific contributors. Within the corpus, plant breeding accounts for 43 percent of studies, followed by conservation genetics and plant biology. Although molecular tools are increasingly available, only 17.8 percent of the analyzed papers applied Omics approaches such as transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, or metabolomics, which underscores persistent barriers to adoption in key producing regions. Beyond counts, we assessed how the literature supports an operational bridge between Omics and Traditional Knowledge by scoring study level evidence tied to farmer maintained materials, on farm evaluation, and quantitative outcomes. The analysis shows that field relevant measures such as yield with units, adoption in percent, and diversity indices are more common companions to Omics than explicit documentation of Traditional Knowledge or the use of participatory plant breeding and participatory varietal selection. Taken together, these results identify where evidence is strong, where it is missing, and how targeted additions, notably explicit documentation of Traditional Knowledge and on farm participatory selection, can align genetic signals with community priorities and improve the relevance and adoption of sweetpotato genetics research.