Embrapa launches sweet potato ABC handbook in Aracaju

Sergipe students will be introduced to a new, highly nutritional product. We are talking about orange-fleshed sweet potato Embrapa Vegetables (Brasília, DF) is introducing in the local school snack menu. The topic is part of the ABC handbook Embrapa will launch during the III Annual Biofortification Meeting (www.cpatc.embrapa.br/biofortbrasil/) to be held from May 31 to June 05 in Aracaju (SE).

According to researcher João Bosco Carvalho, the ABC handbook should be distributed to state elementary schools. “The idea is to involve teachers, snack servers and students in a way that kids get exposed to the product and talk the family into growing the materials Embrapa Vegetables is making available to consumers,” the researcher explains, pointing out that sweet potato growing is widely disseminated in Sergipe.

The 16-page handbook can be divided into three parts. The first part approaches the issue of new orange-fleshed sweet potato materials that are currently being delivered to producers. The unique color is owed to the beta-carotene content, the same micronutrient that gives both the carrot and the pumpkin their characteristic color – converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A deficiency is associated with blindness and infections, especially in children.

The second part brings a streamlined sweet potato production system, while the third part includes alternative sweet potato-based recipes. “The first 20,000-copy print of the ABC handbook will be distributed across Sergipe with Embrapa Coastal Tablelands (Aracaju-SE) support. Other northeastern states will also receive the material to the extent that Embrapa builds new distribution partnerships with local governments, state offices of education, and rural extension bodies,” says João Bosco.

New materials – During the III Annual Biofortification Meeting, Embrapa Vegetables will also present four new orange-fleshed sweet potato materials. Bosco says the roots have been selected from among 46 clones sent in by Peru-based International Potato Center – CIP (Spanish acronym). These cultivars have the advantage of not being infected by viruses that attack vegetable crops.

This sweet potato variety is being evaluated by Sergipe and Maranhão producers, and should be made available to states that have a tradition of growing this kind of crop, including Ceará, Pernambuco and Paraíba.

Biofortification – Ministry of Agriculture Reinhold Stephanes and 200 researchers from all over Brazil and abroad will come to Sergipe for the III Annual Biofortification Meeting to discuss the results so far obtained with cassava, rice, common beans, maize, wheat, cowpea, and sweet potato, as well as the required strategies to deliver such products to rural producers and consumers alike. The Meeting is a joint Embrapa Food Technology and Embrapa Coastal Tablelands event held in partnership with HarvestPlus and AgroSalud programs and support from Monsanto, Nestlé, Pepsico, and Halotek Fadel.

Information on the ABC handbook:

Marcos Esteves (4505/14/45v/DF).
Embrapa Vegetables
61 3385-9109

Information on the III Annual Biofortification Meeting:

Soraya Pereira (MTB 26165/SP).

Embrapa Food Technology

1 3622 9739

Gislene Alencar Mtb/MG 05653 JP)
Embrapa Coastal Tablelands

79 4009 1381