AEROPONICS YAM MULTIPLICATION HAS MADE THE FARMING OF THIS POPULAR STAPLE FOOD A VERY PROFITABLE ENTERPRISE
okenw...@yahoo.com
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The tropical rainforest of West Africa and the contiguous savanna zone are home to nearly 90% of all the yam crops produced in the world. In this yam belt, this tuber is easily the prevalent staple food of the indigenous inhabitants. The mythology of the Igbo ethnic nationality is intricately woven with the yam crop, for example. Until the modern era, an individual’s wealth was assessed by the quantity of yam produced and managed by the person concerned. Yam production is thus not just to ensure food security but also to maintain and showcase the economic viability of whoever produce and control this vital staple food source in society.
Based on this brief, one can better understand and appreciate the wisdom that informed the vision of the founders of Yam Improvement for Income Security for West Africa (YIIFSWA) to cover the countries of Nigeria and Ghana. Scientific research to elucidate the growth cycle of yam has revealed new information that has markedly reduced the cost of producing greater yields of the crop in a greater number of varieties. Cultivation of yam, which has been a prevalent pastime for the indigenous inhabitants of the yam belt of West Africa, can now be made to become low-hanging fruit for the low-income rural farmers. With the option of produce export to earn foreign exchange, yam production can be made to become a veritable income spinner, even at the lowest rung of society.
Before the novel agricultural breakthroughs, yam production was done only by planting a portion of the preceding harvest. It is estimated that as much as 30% of the previous season’s harvest must be stored by the farmer as seed stock for planting the following season. When combined with the labor-intensive nature of plowing, weeding and tending the crop in the field, the poor farmer cannot afford to engage in yam production. Aeroponics technology had markedly reduced the cost of producing seed yam to only a fraction of what it used to be. The aeroponics system allows for the replication of specific pest-resistant species and varieties that offer a greater yield at harvest time with less back-breaking labor.
On a parallel track, enterprising farmers have derived an ingenious method for growing yams in bags instead of on-field farms as was the practice before. By planting in bags, yam yield per acre can be trebled or even quadrupled. The chore of farm weeding and crop rotation are eliminated by growing yams in bags. When superimposed on the aeroponics technology in seed production, farmers who plant the improved yam species and varieties in bags do end up with bountiful yields that make the enterprise a very lucrative venture.
To read the article and watch the YIIFSWA II video on YouTube, go to the LNC USA website and scroll toward the bottom. Share widely with your social media contacts as usual.
Okenwa.
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