Abstract:
Fushu 737 is a new high-quality sweet potato variety bred for both fresh consumption and starch production, developed by the Crop Research Institute of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It features the outstanding advantages such as high fresh root yield, relatively high starch content, excellent eating quality, uniform and smooth tuber shape, and bright yellow tuber flesh color. However, due to the infection with sweet potato leaf curl virus during the breeding stage, the fresh root yield declined sharply after years of virus accumulation, with an average yield reduction of more than 10%. Therefore, the virus detection and virus-free seedling propagation were carried out for this variety. After virus elimination, Fushu 737 achieved a fresh root yield of
90165 kg·hm
−2 at the demonstration site in Xiapu, ranking first among all the tested varieties, which was 39.2% higher than that of Guangshu 87 and 119.5% higher than that of Xiangshu 75-55, demonstrating excellent yield performance. By analyzing the issues in preventing viral disease infection during the breeding stage of this variety, a virus infection prevention technology for sweet potato breeding materials was summarized, which included “preventing seedborne virus, regional isolation during progeny propagation, physical isolation, seedling preservation, and control of vector insect pests”. This provided a new technical solution to ensure the healthy development of sweet potato breeding programs.