Sweet potatoes, batata, Ipomoea batatas

Sweet potatoes were domesticated about  3000 BC in South America. In 2009, 107 642 391+ tons of sweet potatoes were produced. Biggest producer is China with 81 212 926 tons. Over a half of the Chinese  sweet potatoes  and probably at least 40-45%  of the world's  crop are used to feed pigs.
Biggest producer per capita are Solomon islands with 162.5 kg.
Worldwide, 15.6 kg of sweet potatoes were available per potential consumer. That's enough to last you 6 days and 16 hours at 2000 calories a day, and it would cover your protein needs as well ( up to  50 grams per day ). Also these 15.6 kg (  34.3 lbs ) could supply you with over a year worth of Vitamin A.
Purple sweet potato has a lot  of  cancer-fighting antioxidants  and also  has a  very good taste.

Crop of 2009 could feed  126.8 million people, or an entire population of Japan.

8 510 621 hectares were used for batata production in 2009, a territory slightly smaller than Azerbaijan and slightly bigger than South Carolina.

Sweet potatoes cost around $150 -300 per ton. World crop is about  $14-16 billion dollars worth.


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Production by country, 2007, 2008, 2009

Angola	Sweet potatoes	949104		819772		982588
Antigua and Barbuda	Sweet potatoes	250	F	280	F		M
Argentina	Sweet potatoes	340000	F	340000	F		M
Australia	Sweet potatoes	49131		38407		42460
Bahamas	Sweet potatoes	880	F	880	F	880	F
Bahrain	Sweet potatoes	0	F	0	F		M
Bangladesh	Sweet potatoes	304090		307221			M
Barbados	Sweet potatoes	2100	F	2100	F	2100	F
Belize	Sweet potatoes	23		63		32
Benin	Sweet potatoes	67873		69520			M
Bermuda	Sweet potatoes	100	F	100	F		M
Bhutan	Sweet potatoes		M		M		M
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	Sweet potatoes	7328		7438		7551
Brazil	Sweet potatoes	529531		548438			M
Brunei Darussalam	Sweet potatoes	220	F	220	F		M
Burkina Faso	Sweet potatoes	61916		65000	F		M
Burundi	Sweet potatoes	873663		873663	F		M
Cambodia	Sweet potatoes	38000		39621			M
Cameroon	Sweet potatoes	200000	F	200000	F	200000	F
Cape Verde	Sweet potatoes	4700	F	4700	F		M
Cayman Islands	Sweet potatoes	3	F	3	F	3	F
Chad	Sweet potatoes	65000	F	75000	F		M
Chile	Sweet potatoes	9500	F	9500	F		M
China	Sweet potatoes	75800197		80522926	*	81212926	F
Comoros	Sweet potatoes	6000	F	6000	F	6000	F
Congo	Sweet potatoes	5800	F	6000	F		M
Cook Islands	Sweet potatoes	700	F	700	F		M
Côte d'Ivoire	Sweet potatoes	49517		62016			M
Cuba	Sweet potatoes	414000		375000		437100
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Sweet potatoes	370000	F	380070			M
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Sweet potatoes	236510		239960			M
Dominica	Sweet potatoes	1850	F	1850	F		M
Dominican Republic	Sweet potatoes	36402		35495			M
Ecuador	Sweet potatoes	3200	F	3200	F		M
Egypt	Sweet potatoes	363560		258983		265000	F
El Salvador	Sweet potatoes	575	F	575	F		M
Equatorial Guinea	Sweet potatoes	36000	F	36000	F		M
Ethiopia	Sweet potatoes	388814		526487		262854	*
Fiji	Sweet potatoes	2294		4611		4894
Gabon	Sweet potatoes	3000	F	3000	F	3000	F
Ghana	Sweet potatoes	95000	F	95000	F		M
Greece	Sweet potatoes	3621		3621	F		M
Grenada	Sweet potatoes	280	F	280	F		M
Guadeloupe	Sweet potatoes	4000	F	4300	F		M
Guam	Sweet potatoes	130	F	130	F		M
Guinea	Sweet potatoes	199705		204598			M
Guyana	Sweet potatoes	1500	F	1500	F		M
Haiti	Sweet potatoes	220000		230000			M
Honduras	Sweet potatoes	6900	F	6900	F		M
India	Sweet potatoes	1067200		1094000		1120000
Indonesia	Sweet potatoes	1886852		1876944		2057913
Israel	Sweet potatoes	31866		44569		32237
Italy	Sweet potatoes	7981		8158			M
Jamaica	Sweet potatoes	26055		25797			M
Japan	Sweet potatoes	968400		1011000		1026000
Kenya	Sweet potatoes	811531		894781		930784
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Sweet potatoes	126465		126000	F		M
Liberia	Sweet potatoes	20000	F	21000	F		M
Madagascar	Sweet potatoes	890000	F	890000	F		M
Malaysia	Sweet potatoes	29637		18228		18810
Maldives	Sweet potatoes	24		65		12
Mali	Sweet potatoes	283006		290000	F		M
Martinique	Sweet potatoes	1000	F	1000	F		M
Mauritania	Sweet potatoes	2200	F	2200	F		M
Mauritius	Sweet potatoes	800		799		900
Mexico	Sweet potatoes	59477		56832			M
Micronesia (Federated States of)	Sweet potatoes	3200	F	3200	F		M
Montserrat	Sweet potatoes	20	F	20	F		M
Morocco	Sweet potatoes	8650		10895			M
Mozambique	Sweet potatoes	875216		890000	F		M
Myanmar	Sweet potatoes	57000	F	57000	F		M
New Caledonia	Sweet potatoes	3200	F	3200	F		M
New Zealand	Sweet potatoes	15200	F	13200	F	12400	F
Niger	Sweet potatoes	123100		57877			M
Nigeria	Sweet potatoes	2432000		3318000			M
Niue	Sweet potatoes	260	F	260	F		M
Occupied Palestinian Territory	Sweet potatoes	5625		4895			M
Pakistan	Sweet potatoes	10587		9810			M
Papua New Guinea	Sweet potatoes	580000	F	580000	F		M
Paraguay	Sweet potatoes	166000	F	166000	F	173000	F
Peru	Sweet potatoes	184765		189869		260761
Philippines	Sweet potatoes	573734		572655		600000	F
Portugal	Sweet potatoes	26000	F	27000	F	27000	F
Puerto Rico	Sweet potatoes	3400	F	3400	F		M
Republic of Korea	Sweet potatoes	352269		329351			M
Réunion	Sweet potatoes	650	F	650	F		M
Rwanda	Sweet potatoes	841000		826000		850000	F
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Sweet potatoes	193		199			M
Saint Lucia	Sweet potatoes	529		604			M
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Sweet potatoes	2300	F	2300	F		M
Senegal	Sweet potatoes	38000		40000		40000	F
Sierra Leone	Sweet potatoes	30000	F	30000	F		M
Singapore	Sweet potatoes	0	F	0	F		M
Solomon Islands	Sweet potatoes	86000	F	86000	F		M
Somalia	Sweet potatoes	7000	F	7000	F		M
South Africa	Sweet potatoes	50598		48531		62688
Spain	Sweet potatoes	22265		22265	F		M
Sri Lanka	Sweet potatoes	49160		52460		47270
Sudan	Sweet potatoes	8700	F	8700	F		M
Suriname	Sweet potatoes	727		784			M
Swaziland	Sweet potatoes	2300	F	2300	F		M
Timor-Leste	Sweet potatoes	26000	F	26000	F		M
Togo	Sweet potatoes	3500	F	3500	*		M
Tonga	Sweet potatoes	6800	F	6800	F		M
Trinidad and Tobago	Sweet potatoes	320	F	320	F		M
Uganda	Sweet potatoes	2602000		2707000		2766000
United Republic of Tanzania	Sweet potatoes	1322000		1322000	F		M
United States of America	Sweet potatoes	819641		836560		883099
Uruguay	Sweet potatoes	70000	F	22044		18577
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	Sweet potatoes	13131		7777			M
Viet Nam	Sweet potatoes	1437600		1323900			M
Yemen	Sweet potatoes	300	F	300	F		M
Zambia	Sweet potatoes	100000	F	106523	*	100000	F
Zimbabwe	Sweet potatoes	1800	F	1800	F		M
World + (Total)	Sweet potatoes	100928201	A	106501450	A	107642391	A