Sree Vardhini
An older CTCRI variety (1987) with purple skin and yellow flesh, listed at 100–105 days and 20–25 t/ha. It has only about 1,200 IU of carotene per 100 g, so it is not an orange, vitamin-A sweet potato.
Quick facts
- Type
- Vine cutting (improved variety)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 100–105 days
- Expected yield
- 20–25 t/ha (potential 25 t/ha)
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Disease resistance
- No special resistance listed by CTCRI
- Release
- Released in 1987 by ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, as a selection from open-pollinated progeny of S-13. CTCRI lists Kerala as its suggested region.
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Sree Vardhini is a sweet potato released in 1987 by ICAR-CTCRI, a selection from the open-pollinated progeny of S-13. It is semi-spreading with a green vine tinged with pink, and it flowers freely. The roots are short and fusiform with purple skin and yellow flesh. CTCRI lists carotene at 1,200 IU per 100 g, which is low. It is listed at 100–105 days and 20–25 t/ha, and the suggested region is Kerala. CTCRI records yellow flesh. The orange, carotene-rich CTCRI sweet potato is Bhu Sona.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Sree Vardhini if you want a purple-skinned, yellow-fleshed table sweet potato for the fresh market, at 100–105 days and 20–25 t/ha. It is not the orange vitamin-A type, with only about 1,200 IU of carotene per 100 g. For orange flesh, choose Bhu Sona, which has 19,100–20,800 IU. If you want the quickest crop, Sree Arun and Sree Varun finish in 90 days.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Purple skin that looks attractive in the fresh market.
- A dependable 20–25 t/ha at 100–105 days, from a variety in use since 1987.
- Yellow flesh, which some buyers prefer to white or cream.
Things to consider
- It is not a vitamin A sweet potato. The 1,200 IU per 100 g is about one-sixteenth of Bhu Sona's lower figure of 19,100 IU. Do not sell it as orange or biofortified.
- It is slower than the 90-day Sree varieties, at 100–105 days.
- CTCRI suggests Kerala. Elsewhere, plant a small plot first. No weevil or nematode tolerance is listed.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Kerala
Check the flesh colour before you promise vitamin A
Sree Vardhini is easy to mistake for an orange sweet potato, because the skin is purple-red and the name sounds like a nutrition variety. It is neither.
CTCRI records yellow flesh and carotene of 1,200 IU per 100 g. For comparison Bhu Sona is 19,100 to 20,800 IU, and Sree Bhadra is 800 to 1,000. So Sree Vardhini sits closer to the pale varieties than the orange one.
If you sell to a buyer who has asked for vitamin A or orange flesh, cut one root in half before you accept an order. A deep orange cut is Bhu Sona. A yellow cut is Sree Vardhini. Selling the wrong one as orange loses the buyer, and the next season's order with 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 Krishna | 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 Vardhinithis page | 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
Is Sree Vardhini an orange-fleshed, vitamin A sweet potato?
No. CTCRI records purple skin and yellow flesh, with carotene of 1,200 IU per 100 g. Bhu Sona, the CTCRI orange variety, has 19,100–20,800 IU. If your buyer wants orange flesh for vitamin A, Sree Vardhini will not do.
How old is Sree Vardhini, and does that matter?
CTCRI released it in 1987, one of the oldest CTCRI releases still grown. Age means farmers know it well, but newer CTCRI varieties such as Sree Arun and Sree Varun (2002) finish in 90 days against its 100–105.
What yield does Sree Vardhini give?
CTCRI lists 20–25 t/ha, and the potential is also 25 t/ha, so the top of the range is the best case. Planted on 1 July, it is ready between about 9 and 14 October.
Where is Sree Vardhini recommended?
CTCRI lists Kerala. Try a small plot first in any other state.
Sourced from: Sree Vardhini — ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute variety datasheet. editorial policy.