Plant and soil systems senior Andrew Barocco’s work with sweet potatoes proves that farming is as much about science as it is about hard work.
His first day on the job at the LSU AgCenter Sweet Potato Breeding Program sparked a curiosity about the cross between edible and ornamental sweet potatoes.
The same plant bred for bright orange side dishes also is grown for ornamental foliage above ground, Barocco said.
“It just finally hit me, and I asked [sweet potato breeder and professor Don] Labonte, ‘Are there any ornamental sweet potatoes that are also edible?’” Barocco said. “I don’t think he expected me to actually act on it.”
Barocco has since cross-pollinated a new variety of sweet potatoes that pleases the eye as well as the tastes buds.
Using the sweet potato breeding lines and 2008 research on ornamental plants by LSU agriculture instructor Robert Mirabello, Barocco spent “hours upon hours upon hours” working with the AgCenter, Hill Farm and Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase, Louisiana, to perfect his crop.
“The first generation crosses between the edibles and the ornamentals were exactly what you think. They were kind of neither of the two,” Barocco said. “The real progress I was able to make was in that next generation. I took those first generation crosses and crossed them all with themselves. You mix those up, you recombine.”
Barocco said about half of the second generation had the undesirable mix, while another 25 percent reverted back to completely ornamental or completely edible.
The remaining 25 percent got it right. When the seedlings displayed ornamental foliage and an orange storage root, it was time to see how they performed in the field.
“That’s what I did this summer,” Barocco said. “We had a field that was fertilized and prepared how you would any regular plot would be. They had orange flesh and U.S. No. 1 grade storage roots, which is what you would see in the store.”
While Barocco does not get paid or receive class credit for the work, he still thinks about it every day, he said. He wants to show people that even as undergraduates, students can contribute to their field.
“I really put my heart and soul into it,” Barocco said. “If you look online, just Google ornamental sweet potatoes, and every link and that first page is going to mention something about how you can’t eat ornamentals, so it is definitely something that is on the industry’s mind.”
Barocco said the next step in horticulture research is to increase his stock. Once a researcher thinks he has a good product, he will produce a large quantity to run as many tests on as he can.
“You literally just make as much as you can so you can get a lot of roots to test, taste test, microwave test, fungal and disease test,” Barocco said. “They need to be increased and then trial by the public. Let’s see what the public thinks.”
Barocco already has presented his plants to the East Baton Rouge Master Gardener Association and said he hopes to continue his research even after graduation in May.
It will be up to LSU to continue his work at the Sweet Potato Research Station, but Barocco has already set up his own home station where he works on weevil resistance and purple sweet potatoes.
“I knew it could be done, and I guess had faith that I could do it,” Barocco said. “Now I have my own nursery that I built with my own money, so I can take this and continue this wherever I go.”

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Courtesy of Andrew Barocco