Eshu No. 2

Eshu 2 is a new sweet potato variety with high starch content, bred by Grain Production Institute of Hubei Province Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It is a new achievement of the national "Eighth Five-Year Plan" project. It was approved by Crop Variety Approval Committee of Hubei Province in March 1996. Its main features and characteristics are:

The top leaf is light green, the leaf shape is shallow and complex, the leaf color is green, the vein is purple, the stem is green and purple, the vine type creeping growth, the single plant bears 3.9 potatoes, the potato piece is spindle shape, the potato skin is red, and the potato flesh is light yellow. Good germination, strong growth potential, high quality seedlings. 60 days after planting, the average potato weight per plant was 197.0 g and the daily gain per hectare was 185.85 kg, which were 107.0 g and 103.50 kg more than Nanshu 88, 84.1% and 79.6% higher respectively. The photosynthetic rate was 3.4% higher than that of Nanshu 88 under low light condition and 2.1% higher than that of Nanshu 88 under shading condition. The resistance to black spot and root rot was stronger than Xushu 18. The drying rate was 32.2%, starch content was 21.94g per 100g dry potato.

Eshu 2 was tested in Hubei province from 1991 to 1993. The average yield of fresh potato, dried potato, starch and vine leaves increased by 4.3%, 4.9%, 12.0% and 10.8% respectively compared with Xushu 18, and by 0.6%, 6.7%, 32.1% and 13.9% respectively compared with Nanshu 88. At present, it has been popularized and applied in 12 counties (cities) of our province. Since 1992, the accumulated popularization area has reached more than 46 thousand hm2. The larger counties (cities) include Zigui, Changyang, Yichang and Zhicheng.