IITA develops commercial seed yam technology

NORBERT MAROYA, A PROJECT CO ORDINATOR with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) unveiled two technologies designed for the commercial production of quality seed yams.

The seed yam tubers were produced using the High Ration Propagation Technologies (HRPTs) such as the Temporary Immersion Bioreactor System (TIBS) and Aeroponics System (AS), according to Maroya, who coordinates the IITA Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa Project.

The technique involves cutting tubers of yam into small sizes of between 50 and 100 grams, treating them with appropriate pesticides and insecticides before planting.

Temporary Immersion Bioreactor system (TIBS) is a relatively recent micro-propagation procedure that employs the use of automated gadgets to control rapid multiplication of plant cultures under adequate conditions.

The project coordinator said that the production of high quality seed yam tubers presented new business opportunities for yam producers in Nigeria and Ghana.

One of the mandates of the project, he said, is to demonstrate to and interest seed entrepreneurs and companies on the feasibility of using IITA-generated researches on TIBS and AS for production of early generation planting materials.

“A three-hectare field with AS-derived single node seedlings has so far been established, this is the first time seed yam production is being done on a large scale using new technologies of TIBS and AS. Seed entrepreneurs invited to witness the event can use these technologies efficiently to produce clean and disease-free seed yam tubers for sale. The AS at IITA can generate seedlings for a 10-hectare field because the multiplication ratio of yam has increased from 1:5 to at least 100 every three to four months,” Maroya said.

Maroya said that after successful adaptation of the seed yam production technologies in the first phase of the project, IITA was granted a second phase to establish a commercially viable yam seed system.

Beatrice Aighewi, the project’s seed system specialist, said obtaining good quality planting material for yam cultivation had been a major challenge in Nigeria and Ghana, noting that although 23 improved varieties of planting material had been released in Nigeria, farmers were yet to benefit from using these varieties due to a combination of factors.

The factors include inefficient seed yam production, distribution and quality assurance systems.

“TIBS and AS allow the production of disease-free seed yam in large quantities and in less time,” she said.