A unique sweet potato variety has been grabbing the attention of enthusiasts.
In 2005, a North Carolina State University professor introduced the Covington Sweet Potato to the world. It is a breakthrough variety known for high yield, flavor, nutritional value, and appearance. He says he was a potato breeder before being drawn to the sweet potato realm.
“My department head fellow by the name of Doctor Tom Minako asked me if I’d be interested in managing the sweet potato program too. I had exposure to the crop, but very little, and I like a challenge. There’s some features between sweet potato and potato that kind of overlap, and some techniques that we use. They’re both an example of what we call a clonally propagated.
They’re vegetatively propagated, so they’re breeding similarities, so it kind of made sense. I said yes, and it’s been just a really rewarding job. It wasn’t like a planned change. I mean, for many of your audience members, you’re probably familiar with the old saying, “when opportunity knocks, don’t be afraid to walk through the door.” I think that was a case in my point; opportunity knocked it kind of set me up and I walked through that sweet potato door so to speak. And it’s just turned into a really wonderful opportunity to build a team with a great industry.”
The Covington now commands 90 percent of North Carolina’s sweet potato production and 20 percent of national production.
