Bhu Krishna
A purple-fleshed biofortified CTCRI variety released in 2017, with about 90 mg/100 g anthocyanin. It is highly tolerant of sweet potato weevil and salt stress, and suits the processing and natural-colour market.
Quick facts
- Type
- Vine cutting (biofortified variety)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 110–120 days
- Expected yield
- 18–22 t/ha
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Disease resistance
- Highly tolerant of sweet potato weevil and salt stress
- Release
- Released in 2017 by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram. A clonal selection from open-pollinated seedling progenies of an exotic source. CTCRI lists Odisha as its suggested growing region.
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Bhu Krishna is a purple-fleshed sweet potato released in 2017 by ICAR-CTCRI. The plant is semi-compact with a green, hairy vine and purple nodes, and the root is long and elliptic with dark purple skin. The flesh is dark purple and holds about 90 mg of anthocyanin per 100 g. Extractable starch is 20–21%. CTCRI lists it at 110–120 days and 18–22 t/ha, calls it highly tolerant of sweet potato weevil and salt stress, and suggests Odisha as the growing region. It is meant for processing, not as a plain table root.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Bhu Krishna if you have a buyer for purple flesh, such as a processor or a health-food seller, since it holds about 90 mg/100 g anthocyanin and 20–21% extractable starch. CTCRI suggests Odisha as the growing region. If you just want a table sweet potato, Sree Arun or Sree Varun give more (20–28 t/ha against 18–22 t/ha) in 90 days against 110–120 days. For orange, vitamin-A flesh, choose Bhu Sona instead.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- About 90 mg/100 g anthocyanin in a dark purple flesh, a natural colour source for the processing market.
- CTCRI lists it as highly tolerant of sweet potato weevil and of salt stress.
- Extractable starch of 20–21% adds a second use beside colour.
Things to consider
- It is a speciality crop. CTCRI's yield (18–22 t/ha) is below Sree Arun and Sree Varun (20–28 t/ha), so you need a buyer who pays for colour.
- It takes 110–120 days, the longest of the seven sweet potatoes compared here.
- CTCRI suggests Odisha as the growing region. Elsewhere, treat it as untested and plant a small plot first.
- Tolerant of weevil does not mean immune. Use clean, weevil-free vine cuttings and earth up the ridges.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Odisha
Find the buyer before you take the cuttings
Bhu Krishna is not a variety to plant for the open market. Its value is the dark purple flesh, with about 90 mg/100 g anthocyanin, and the 20–21% extractable starch. Those matter to a processor or a natural-colour buyer.
The yield gap shows the price of that choice. CTCRI lists 18–22 t/ha for Bhu Krishna and 20–28 t/ha for Sree Arun or Sree Varun, which finish in 90 days. At the low end you give up 2 t/ha, at the high end up to 10 t/ha. The purple root has to sell for enough more per kilo to pay for that, and for 20 to 30 extra days in the field.
So ask first. Which processor or trader buys purple sweet potato in your district, at what rate, in what quantity, and when do they want delivery? If no one can answer, plant a small plot to take samples to buyers, and do not put the whole field under it.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is raised from cuttings, not from seed, so you can take your own planting material. Take cuttings only from healthy, well-grown plants that are true to the variety, and never from one that showed disease — a cutting carries its mother plant with it. Where a nursery or a government farm sells clean planting material, that is the safer start.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhu Krishnathis page | Purple flesh and natural colour for processing, in Odisha | 110–120 days | 18–22 t/ha | Odisha |
| Bhu Sona | Dark-orange flesh for vitamin A and processing, in Odisha | 105–110 days | 20–24 t/ha | Odisha |
| Rajendra Shakarkand-5 | A Bihar commercial variety to trial against Sree Bhadra, with no official figures yet | No official figure found | No official figure found | Bihar |
| Sree Arun | A 90-day table sweet potato for a short window between crops | 90 days | 20–28 t/ha (potential 30 t/ha) | Kerala |
| Sree Bhadra | A widely recommended 90-day table sweet potato that fits a nematode rotation | 90 days | 27 t/ha | Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh |
| Sree Vardhini | A purple-skinned, yellow-fleshed table sweet potato, an old dependable | 100–105 days | 20–25 t/ha (potential 25 t/ha) | Kerala |
| Sree Varun | A cream-skinned, high-starch 90-day table sweet potato | 90 days | 20–28 t/ha (potential 30 t/ha) | Kerala |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Sweet Potato (Shakarkand) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the anthocyanin in Bhu Krishna good for?
Anthocyanin is the pigment that gives the flesh its dark purple colour, and it is an antioxidant. CTCRI lists about 90 mg per 100 g and says the variety suits processing, for example as a natural food colour. It is a speciality use, so confirm a buyer first.
How long does Bhu Krishna take, and what does it yield?
CTCRI gives 110–120 days and 18–22 t/ha. Planted on 1 July, that puts harvest between about 19 and 29 October.
Is Bhu Krishna resistant to sweet potato weevil?
CTCRI calls it highly tolerant of weevil and of salt stress. Tolerant is not the same as immune, so still plant weevil-free vine cuttings and earth up the ridges to keep the roots covered.
Bhu Krishna or Bhu Sona: which one?
Both were released by CTCRI in 2017 and both are meant for processing. Bhu Krishna is purple, for anthocyanin and natural colour. Bhu Sona is dark orange, for beta-carotene (vitamin A). Bhu Sona also yields more (20–24 t/ha against 18–22 t/ha) and is a little quicker (105–110 days against 110–120).
Sourced from: Bhu Krishna — ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute variety datasheet. editorial policy.