STARKVILLE, Miss.—It’s official. The Mississippi sweet potato is growing tremendously—in status that is.
The storage root formally becomes the “Official Vegetable of Mississippi” on July 1, after Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate House Bill 2383 into law this past month. And, none could be happier about the legislation’s passage than Mississippi State University sweet potato expert Lorin Harvey.
“Farmers in Mississippi work hard to produce the safest, most nutritious and affordable sweet potatoes out there,” said Harvey, an assistant agronomy professor in MSU’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. “I’m always glad to see them get any recognition for producing such an important vegetable in our state.”
Known as the comfort food in grandma’s savory pies and casseroles—and even mysterious hash—this veggie graces many tables in the Magnolia State mainly because of its taste and nutrition value, but Harvey explained its versatility also plays a role.
“It can be used in so many ways and substituted in just about any recipe when it calls for carrots, pumpkin or other potatoes,” said Harvey, who also is an extension professor at the Mississippi Agricultural and Experiment Station’s Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch.
Considered a specialty crop, sweet potatoes have a statewide production value of $82 million annually—small potatoes compared to yields of soybeans and corn, according to MSU agriculture economist Will Maples. However, Maples said Mississippi is known as a major producer in the U.S. of the fibrous plant.
“We are third to North Carolina and California as a domestic producer. Of these big three, we’re also third in number of farms with 156, while the other two have 528 and 202, respectively,” Maples said.
Most prominently grown in Mississippi is the orange-colored, majestically named Beauregard variety on between 28,000 and 30,000 acres yearly, with the town of Vardaman—population of about 1,060—as the epicenter of production. Known as “The Sweet Potato Capital of the World” to those endeared to the root, the community first grew the plant there around 1915, which thrived in the soil and climate.
Harvey said, “Vardaman’s staying power as the center of production is most likely infrastructure. Most operations there have built washing and packing facilities, as well as long-term refrigerated storage buildings.”
Though certain of its state origin, one question still remains when analyzing the vegetable. Will its increase in statewide prestige ever elevate it to even greater heights?
Harvey said it’s a possibility that drawing attention to it could increase consumption.
“But it’d be difficult to quantify,” he surmised.