Physiological Characteristics Analysis of Leaves of Several Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) Genotypes on Various Watering Level

Drought stress is a major problem in crop production worldwide. The unavailability of groundwater and erratic climate change causes a lack of water for plants. Efforts that can be made to maintain sweet potato production in drought conditions are by planting genotypes that are tolerant of drought stress. This research aim was to determine the growth and production and also to analyze the physiological characters of several sweet potatoes genotypes on various watering level. The observed parameters were chlorophyll a, b and total and also relative water content at two months and three months after planting (MAP). The results showed that sweet potato genotypes had a different response to the level of watering. The response of each sweet potato genotype was significantly different in the parameters of chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll in the third month and the relative water content at 2 MAP. The Binjai accession genotype had the highest chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content compared to other genotypes at 3 MAP. Watering levels treatment significantly affected the chlorophyll a, b and total at 3 MAP. The optimum watering significantly increases the chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content at 3 MAP.