IITA researchers grow yam in the air

Researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have come up with soilless yam propagation as they have successfully grown seed yams in the air using aeroponics technology.
The fete is raising hopes and more options for the propagation of virus- and disease-free planting materials.
In preliminary trials, Dr Norbert Maroya, Project Manager for the Yam Improvement for Incomes and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project at IITA, together with a team of scientists successfully propagated yam by directly planting vine cuttings in Aeroponics System (AS) boxes to produce mini-tubers in the air.
Aeroponics System is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium. The technology is widely used by commercial potato seed producers in eastern Africa – like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Southern Africa like Mozambique, Malawi - but successfully growing yam on aeroponics is a novelty for rapidly multiplying the much needed clean seed yam tubers in large quantities.
“With this approach we are optimistic that farmers will begin to have clean seed yams for better harvest,” Dr Maroya said
Preliminary results showed that vine rooting in Aeroponics System had at least 95% success rate compared to vine rooting in carbonized rice husk with a maximum rate of 70%. Rooting time was much shorter in aeroponics.
Aeroponics is coming at an opportune time for African farmers. Traditionally, seed yam production is expensive and inefficient. Farmers save about 25 to 30% of their harvest for planting the same area in the following season, meaning less money in their pockets.
Moreover, these saved seeds are often infested with pathogens that significantly reduce farmers’ yield year after year.

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