Start Up Your Yam Farming Business With This Basic Knowledge
How Arable Is Nigerian Soil For Yam Production?
Nigeria is by far
the world’s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the
world production. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization report,
in 1985, Nigeria produced 18.3 million tonnes of yam from 1.5 million hectares,
representing 73.8 percent of total yam production in Africa.
According to 2008
figures, yam production in Nigeria has nearly doubled since 1985, with Nigeria
producing 35.017 million metric tonnes with value equivalent of US$5.654
billion. In perspective, the world's second and third largest producers of
yams, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, only produced 6.9 and 4.8 million tonnes of yams
in 2008 respectively.
According to the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria accounted for about 70
percent of the world production amounting to 17 million tonnes from land area
2,837,000 hectares under yam cultivation.
There you have it –
there are no better lands than Nigeria’s to cultivate Yam
Is There Any Specific Specie of yam That Grows Better and Profitable For Business?
Yam, a tropical crop
in the genus Dioscorea has only 6 out Of 600 that are economically important
staples. These are: Dioscorea rotundata (white guinea yam), Dioscorea alata
(yellow yam), Dioscorea bulbifera (aerial yam), Dioscorea esculant (Chinese
yam) and Dioscorea dumetorum (trifoliate yam).
Out of these,
Dioscorea rotundata (White yam) and Dioscorea alata (Water yam) are the most
common species in Nigeria and are grown in the coastal region in rain forests,
wood savanna and southern savanna habitats.
Are There Enough Opportunity To Start A Yam Farming Business?
Yam is in the class
of roots and tubers that is a staple of the Nigerian and West African diet,
which provides some 200 calories of energy per capita daily.
In Nigeria, in many
yam-producing areas, it is said that "yam is food and food is yam".
However, the production of yam in Nigeria is substantially short and cannot
meet the growing demand at its present level of use hence an opportunity for
you to explore.
Five hundred by five hundred
meters size of farmland could yield you 50,000 tubers of yam which is valued at
N10 million ($50,000) at one dollars per yam.
This is a golden opportunity for
any serious farmer who would like to take advantage of this season to cultivate
yam in large quantity. Apart from selling locally, yam can be exported to the
United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, and
even Japan.
The remaining of
this article will focused on “White Guinea Yam”(Dioscorea rotundata)
the popular species cultivated in West Africa.
1. Locate A Suitable Land For Farming
Yams prefer growing
in upland and they should be planted in a well-drained field. Optimum yields
are obtained from sandy loam and silt loam soil although acceptable yields are
also obtained from clay loam soils, particularly those high in organic matter.
While some yams does relatively well on stony soil, it is however not advisable
to plant yam on stony hard soil.
Forest lands in most
tropical region offers ideal environment for growing yam both in soil quality
and climate conditions.
·
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| Land being prepared for Yam cultivation |
2. Preparation Of Land
Properly clear the bush and burn the grasses with fire at the appropriate time, way before the planting time. Yam is best planted within the months of February and April when the rainy season is just beginning. These are the best periods for land preparation.
·
After the bush had been cleared,
make hips of loose soil of about one meter in height and one meters apart.
Ridged bed types are also good for yam planting. When the latter is used, the
ridges should be constructed one meters apart. In the case of sloping or
rolling fields, construction of ridges should follow the contour to minimize
soil erosion. This is essential in yam farming.
While
making the ridges, it is important to remove any hard objects that could hinder
the growth of the yam tuber.
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| Preparation Of Mini Sett from a tuber |
3. Preparation Of Sett
Setts are whole tubers or tuber that is cut in pieces used for planting. If the tuber is small, it can be planted whole, but if it is big, it has to be cut in pieces to the size of 60g to 100g. As a rule, the bigger the sett used, the higher is the expected yield but shouldn’t be too big, else, you will be wasting resources.
Setts should be
taken from healthy tubers of healthy plants. Appropriate sett sizes are not
sliced while larger tubers are sliced into the desired sett size so that each
sett has sufficient skin surface area. Thus, four types of setts are obtained
and are named according to their positions on the tuber as follows: head setts,
middle setts and tail setts for the tuber pieces and whole setts for the whole
tubers.
Cut sides of the
setts are treated with ash or with fungicide and air dried. After air drying,
setts are either pre-sprouted or planted directly.
4. Pre-Sprouting Of Setts
Because the emergence period of most freshly prepared setts in the
field lasts from three to twelve weeks, it is desirable to pre-sprout the setts
before they are planted. This procedure assures the emergence of setts when
planted and minimizes expenses on weeding before sett emergence.
To pre-sprout a
sett, a shallow ditch is dug in a clear shaded area under trees, under bananas,
or under a shed constructed for the purpose. Setts are placed side by side in
the ditch and covered with dry grasses or dry banana leaves. In cases where no
ditch is dug, the setts can be placed side by side on the ground instead.
Setts are grouped
according to type. For setts cut from large tubers, the orientation is either
skin up or crown sideways. Setts can be covered with a thin layer of soil and
are watered at least once a week until all the setts have produced sprouts.
With sett
pre-sprouting, it may be desired to stagger planting and land preparation since
setts do not sprout at the same time. In general, whole setts and head setts
sprout ahead of other sett types.
Planting
pre-sprouted setts can, however, also be done at one time.
- Preparation of pre-sprouted setts for staggered planting
To prevent sprouts from becoming too
long, setts that have already sprouted are removed from the pre-sprouting
seedbed and placed on a platform in a shady place. The process is repeated
every week until the desired number of sprouted setts is obtained.
The sprouted setts on the
platform are not watered. Setts should be planted before sprouts become very
long.
The same procedure is performed
for setts intended for the second and succeeding plantings. This is especially
the case for yam farming in West Africa
- Preparation of pre-sprouted setts for single planting.
The procedure followed in single
planting is essentially the same as that used in preparing setts for staggered
planting. The former is done only after most, if not all, setts have produced
sprouts. By this time some sprouts which may have grown quite long should be
trimmed before the setts are planted.
5. Planting Procedures
The usual planting time for white
yam is March to April, depending on the time the tuber dormancy is broken, as
indicated by the sprouting of tubers under storage and upon start of rain in a
particular area. This means that you have to start the pre-sprouting process
well ahead of the planting time, at least for 3 weeks
Like I said before, the distance
between the planted yam should be 1m x 1m and at a depth of about 10cm. When
planting coincides with a dry spell, setts are planted in any orientation about
15 cm deep if the field will not be mulched. About 20,000 to 27,778 setts are
needed for one hectare of farmland.
Pre-sprouted setts. Setts are
usually planted at the start of rain if the field cannot be irrigated or will
not be mulched. The same planting distance and depth for non-pre-sprouted setts
are used. When planting, setts should be oriented so that sprouts are up. To
achieve this, the cut surface has to face the ground.
In staggered planting, the field
is divided into four up to six sections – a section for a batch of setts ready
for planting. The size of each section and the time each section is prepared is
guided by the rate of sprouting of setts.
Mulching The Ridges
In order to reduce soil
temperature, conserve soil moisture and suppress weed growth, it is preferable to
mulch the field where the yams are planted.
Mulching is essential
during October–November with dry grass or plant debris weighed down with balls
of mud. Dosage of fertilizer application, as essential, is decided after
chemical analysis of the soil samples.
Dry coconut fronds, corn
stalks, rice straw and other similar materials may be used as mulch. If rice
straw or similar material that rot readily is used, the mulch is made thick
(about 10 cm) so that it will not rot completely within four or five months.
For yam farming and to further to
protect the soil from excessive loose of moisture, mulching tends to add some
nutrient to the soil from the decaying materials used.
Weed Control
Manual weeding by hoeing is done three
or four times depending on the rate of weed growth. The number of times a yam
farm needs to be weeded depends on the use of pre-sprouted setts, the
application of mulch and the rate of weed growth. If non-pre-sprouted setts are
used and the field is not mulched, two to three weeding operations are needed
before the yam canopy covers the space between rows to partially suppress weed
growth. If pre-sprouted setts are used and the field is mulched, at most only
two weedings performed about two months apart are needed.
Weeding of the field is essential
and maintaining a 2–3 metres (6 ft 7 in–9 ft 10 in) weed
free border around the field is to be ensured. Disease resistant [cultivars]
are normally recommended for use.
Handtools are the only method I recommend.
Use of other methods such as animal powered plows are dangerous to the plans as
the vines may get damaged in the process. Use of herbicides may be
acceptable in some areas.
Replanting (Replacing Dead Yams)
Some amount of sett mortality can
be expected, particularly in while Guinea yam when non-presprouted setts are
used for planting. Thus replanting is done, usually about two months after the
original planting.
Hills with no sprouts are checked
to see if there are rotten setts which should be removed and replaced with new
ones. Un-Sprouted setts that did not rot should not be replaced because they
still can produce sprouts later on.
Staking The Yam Vines
Plants are staked before vines
start crawling on the ground. The recommended stake length is five to ten
meters and a stake to every plant. Bamboo poles are the most desirable staking
material, similar material that can support the yam vines for at least seven
months can be used as stakes. There are various methods of staking, three of
the more popular ones are as follows:
- Trellis method. This stake setup is not very stable and requires more materials to support the stakes (posts and tie wire). However, weeding and hilling up operations using animal-drawn implements can be done easily under this setup.
- Modified trellis method. With this method, ground spaces under the stake arch need not be weeded as the foliage becomes dense. Also, stakes formed in this manner provide stable support. However, weeding and hilling up operations that utilize animal-drawn implements cannot be done under the arches.
- Pyramid method. This staking method has the advantages and disadvantages of the modified trellis method. In addition, it requires fewer, though sturdier, materials for stake construction and requires lesser amount of labor to construct. On the other hand, it has an additional disadvantage because yams grown under this method usually yield lower than those grown under the modified trellis method of yam farming.
Training The Vines
The water yam (Dioscorea alata)
vine twines to the right while that of white Guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata)
twines to the left. When vines start crawling on the ground, they are trained
to climb their respective stakes. They are trained again when long branches
start crossing the rows or when weeding operation is about to be done.
Fertilizer Application
A hectare of water yam is able to
remove about 128 kg nitrogen, 17 kg phosphorous and 162 kg potassium from the
soil. This represents more or less its fertilizer requirements. In the case of
white yam, no information is available regarding the amount of nutrients it can
remove from the soil. However, like other yams, its fertilizer requirements
should be similar to that of water yam.
The level of soil fertility in
the field and the amount of fertilizer that need to be added can be determined
by submitting the soil samples to the any agricultural institute or to IITA for
analysis. The assistance of the local Farm Management Technician should be
sought regarding this.
- · Application of inorganic fertilizer. The recommended amount of fertilizer is split into two, one-half applied about one month after emergence and the other half applied about two months after the first application. The band method of fertilizer application is used, with the fertilizer being placed about 10 cm away from the plants.
- · Application of compost. Yams respond well to organic fertilizers like compost – a mixture of decayed organic matter composed of plant parts and animal manures. The compost is mixed with the soil while the field is being prepared or it is placed just below the spot where setts are to be planted.
Covering Exposed Tubers
As tubers elongate rapidly
towards the end of the growing period of the plants, some tubers tend to heave,
thereby causing them to be exposed to the sun. Heavy rains also expose the
tubers. Exposed tubers should be covered with soil to prevent them from
greening. Greening could make it to become inedible in some cases.
Harvesting Time And Method
West and Central Africa tubers are planted between February and April, depending on whether in humid forest or on the savanna, and are harvested 180 to 270 days later.
Care is needed during harvesting to minimize damage to tubers that lead to rot and a decrease in market value. Harvested tubers normally stay dormant (do not develop sprouts) for 30 to 120 days depending on environmental conditions, the date of harvest, and the species. This means that only one crop cycle is possible per year, possibly restricting supply.Harvesting is done before the vines become dry and soil becomes dry and hard. Generally, a yield of 10–15 tonnes per ha for white yam and 16–25 tonnes for water yam are obtained by following prescribed management practices.
Yams are ready for harvest when
its foliage is already yellowing or drying up. The yellowing or drying up
period of the foliage usually starts in late November and lasts until February
the following year. Tubers, especially those intended to be used as setts for
next season’s planting are harvested at the later part of the period. Tubers
intended for consumption or for the market are sometimes harvested earlier,
even before foliage yellowing sets in.
A hoe or a similar handtool is
used to dig around the tuber to loosen it from the soil. Then the tuber is
lifted and clinging soil particles are removed. The vine is cut at the base to
complete the harvesting.
For sandy soil, sturdy stick
sharpened at one end is sometimes used to dig out the tuber. For clay soil and
for varieties with deeply buried tubers, other specialized harvesters like
shovel may be used. Whatever tool is to be used to harvest the tubers, it is
important that care should be exercised so as not to injure yam while digging
as that may reduce the market value and hasten its decay.
After tubers are cleaned, they
are collected and placed in rattan baskets or bamboo or wooden crates lined
with soft materials such as banana leaves, paper or grass straw. Healthy and
diseased tubers are placed in separate containers.
The tubers are arranged in the
container in two to four layers, depending on tuber size, and a soft material
that can serve as cushion is placed between layers and in the spaces between
tubers in a layer. The container is then covered with paper or banana leaves
and a string net is woven over the mouth of the container if the tubers are to
be transported immediately to the market. No cover is provided for the
container if the tubers are to be transported to a nearby storage place.
Warehouses where they are stored should be made rodent proof with a metal base and wire netting. Rotten buds and sprouted buds should be removed
When you are done harvesting,
take your product to the market and make sales. Yam farming is lucrative as yam
is a very important commodity in the market and sells very fast.
And there you have it, a
comprehensive guide on how to make a living via planting and harvesting of Yam.
Some of the information in this yam farming
article was provided by:
Visayas Consortium for Agriculture and Resources Program,Visayas State University, ViSCA, Baybay City, Leyte, 6521-A Philippines.
Visayas Consortium for Agriculture and Resources Program,Visayas State University, ViSCA, Baybay City, Leyte, 6521-A Philippines.
Pls describe the modified trellis system for staking yam in more detail.
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