The sweet potatoes cultivated in Hong'an county, Hubei province, are superior in quality and distinct in flavor. However, generations of seed preservation and prolonged asexual reproduction have led to viral infections, causing the Hong'an variety to gradually deteriorate, while a lack of effective cultivation techniques and marketing strategies have also hampered cultivation efforts.
In a bid to tackle the challenges faced by the Hong'an sweet potatoes, Professor Cai Xingkui from Huazhong Agricultural University embarked on a research mission to detoxify Hong'an sweet potatoes in 2019.
In April 2022, Huazhong Agricultural University collaborated with the Ruifeng planting and breeding professional cooperative in Hong'an county to establish the Hong'an county sweet potato technology small courtyard.
Leveraging the resources of the technology small courtyard, Cai Xingkui and his team breed 100 million detoxified seedlings annually and detoxified 13 sweet potato varieties, enabling the large-scale production of Hong'an sweet potato seedlings.

Cai Xingkui (middle) and his graduate students cultivate the initial batch of virus-free seedlings. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Moreover, they have further boosted the yield and quality of sweet potatoes by altering rapid propagation conditions, adjusting planting density, and modifying cultivation methods.
Additionally, under Cai Xingkui's leadership, the research team of the technology small courtyard has collaborated with various food companies to research and develop a range of sweet potato products, thereby enhancing the added value and market competitiveness of Hong'an sweet potatoes.