By Famakin Rotimi
Agricultural scientists have developed an improved method of generating seed yam to make planting yams easier and more commercially available.
This new breed of seed yam is known as minituber.
This discovery is a collective effort of a group of seed scientists known as Programme for Seed System Innovation for Vegetatively Propagated Crops in Africa, PROSSIVA, led by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA and complemented by other national partners.
As explained by the yam component lead in the project, Professor Morufat Balogun, the mini tuber when experimented generated high volume of seeds in the nursery and field environment which was ten times what the traditional method would produce using the same land area.
Professor Morufat Balogun said the traditional mode of yam planting had too numerous impediments in achieving the mass production of yam
including slow propagation ratio of seed yam resulting in harvest of contaminated tubers with some becoming rotten shortly after harvest.
“Yes the three objectives have been achieved. They have seen their own milking method and the improved methods. Their milking method is ratio one to two and the improved method is ratio one to one hundred. They have chosen the mini tuber which is “chinchin” mini tuber. So we will pursue the different model”
Professor Balogun advised government to partner PROSSIVA for enhanced yam production as a way to achieve food sufficiency.
In their separate presentations, Drs Delphine Amah, PROSSIVA Co-Lead, Dr Beatrice Aighewi, Temi Adegoroye of SAHEL consulting, Djana Mignouna and Lava Kumar who were representative of various yam component specialities in PROSSIVA took turns to address seed yam production including agronomic and quality management including viruses and other diseases affecting yams as well as business aspects and logistics in the monitoring and delivery of seed yam to target farmers.
Also, the Director of Seed Coordination and Management Services, National Agricultural Seed Council, Mr. Ebiarede Zidafamor, advised farmers to register with appropriate authorities in order to become seed entrepreneurs.
He also urged them to approach appropriate seed companies to obtain mother plants for improved seed production.
“we (NASC) need to know that the materials you are going to use as a producer or even before you become one of us, the seed must be a released variety and it must at least be quality materials that have been accepted as generic and must have undertaken to our seed certification. To be a registered seed entrepreneur the following steps must have been undertaken, you put in an application that you want to be an entrepreneur with the following attachment. The attachment would be the registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, writing in the certificate that says the article of association that says you want to go into seed production, packaging and marketing.
” The next step would be for the council to now review all that you have submitted. So if you have done this, then we issue you the form and the committee to scrutinize your application and if passed you are granted approval to become a seed entrepreneur. Before we give you certificate again too, we come for facility inspection to make sure you are right on ground. Thereafter you are recommended to the body and you are approved”
The Vegetative seed specialist of IITA-GOSeed, Dr Mercy Diebiru-Ojo, explained that early generation seed yam production pathways could lead to income generation.
“what this project want to do is to make sure we want to have seed companies or seed producers who are producing Vegetation crops so that high quality seeds will get to the farmers. The farmers are within our communities. But this planting materials are perishable, so there is no better way to make the seed available than to have it where it is grown. That is why we talked about decentralized seed entrepreneurs”
Aside farmers from registered associations in some local governments, young farmers’ and agricultural students from the Department of Crop Protection and Environmental Biology at the University of Ibadan participated in the workshop.
The women, who constituted half of the participants, expressed their willingness to engage in seed yam entrepreneurship alongside their male counterparts producing food yams.
“Today’s programme is a very good one and I really enjoyed it. As a farmer, we need to get the clean seed to plant. It shows that we took can start seed yam entrepreneur”
“This programme is very fantastic and I will follow it immediately the rain starts to fall.”
The new improved seed yam production by PROSSIVA began six months ago with planting of leaf bud cutting identified as vine cutting and mini tuber which were harvested three months and five months after.
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