Climate-smart yam cropping system comes to the rescue of farmers

Ghanaian yam farmers are in constant search for soil fertility and staking for sustainable high yield production.

To help farmers overcome this challenge, research scientists are making progress in exploring solutions by introducing farmers to the Pigeon Pea–Yam Cropping System for improved yam productivity.

The new planting system, implemented by the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and partners, has been identified as sustainable for yam production in the face of depleting soils and climate change.

“What we have to do is to ensure that farmers are able to use continuously cropped lands for yam, instead of searching for virgin lands which are non-existent,” said Dr. Stella Ennin, Director of CRI-CSIR.

Under the technology, the pigeon pea is used as allays with the yams planted in-between the ridges. The system also involves placing the pigeon pea at the border zone which are cut and used at stakes – the direct access to stakes saves the farmers from the labour, transportation and cost of buying stakes.

At the end of the three-year project in 2020, the researchers are hoping to come out with a technology that will be appreciated by farmers.  Already, the results of field trials look good.

Farmers in yam producing areas like Atebubu-Amantim, Ejura, Techiman and Kintampo in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions have been involved in the new cropping system at an on-station trial field at Aframso in the Ejura-Sekyeredumase District of the Ashanti region.

Most of the farmlands are far from the communities as they shift cultivation in search of fertile lands.

Research scientist on the project, Eric Owusu Danquah, explains the technology addresses staking which is crucial in yam production. The pigeon pea conserves moisture and fixes atmospheric nitrogen. The leaves or biomass, which are cut and spread before land preparation, also add to the soil carbon and nutrient stock in sustaining soil fertility.

During an evaluation exercise on trial fields, the farmers chose the field planted with pigeon pea and the recommended 50percent fertilizer application. This option had better yield with low disease rate on the produce.

“We could see that the yams in the alley sprouted better than where we did not have the pigeon pea. It was more vigorous and grew faster right from the beginning. Phosphorous was made available to the soil and to the plant. We also realized that it was able to preserve moisture which was an advantage,” said Dr. Ennin.

The Pigeon Pea Yam Cropping System has been identified as viable in improved yam productivity.

The research will be expanded from Kumasi and Ejura to other yam producing areas, while production guides are prepared to spread information on the production technique.

Yam farmers exposed to smart technologies to be climate resilient

Yam farmers in parts of Ghana have been exposed to smart technologies needed to build a resilient cropping system in order to increase yields to at least 30% over current yields.

With climate change thwarting the efforts of yam farmers, researchers have emphasized that having a technology packaged with fertilization, seed treatment, minimum staking and ridging does not only help farmers to be competitive in meeting  yam export standards but further reduces their production cost.

Ghana’s Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-CRI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria, has trained and disseminated good agronomic practices to more than 250 yam farmers from Ejura, Atebubu and Kintampo between 2014 and 2016.

This is under the 5-year Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA) project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaking to farmers at a field day to harvest the crop in Atebubu, an agronomist from the CSIR-CRI, Felix Frimpong, stated that the project has helped to increase yam production and raised income levels of yam farmers through participatory demonstrations, on-farm trials and farmer’s field days. 

“The project has helped doubled or in some cases tripped the yield of farmers compared to their conventional practice. It is estimated that the improved agronomic package is able raise yields to about 55% over the current achievable yields in-spite of climate change,” he said. 

The improved technology builds up farmers resilience because the ridging helps in moisture conservation, the use of the trellis staking reduces farmers contribution to deforestation as a result of the reduction in the number stakes used by at least half.

“It is also evident that the technology promotes intensification on the given area because of the high population density and arrangements it accommodates. Sprouting which is also key for yam production is assured because seeds are pre-treated thereby reducing pest incidence and rot,” explained Mr. Frimpong.

When adopted, the technology ensures better living standards compared to traditional farming of mounding and planting.

 

Some beneficiary farmers are excited at the opportunity to increase yield under with the improved technology.

The researchers have advised policy makers to help promote such innovations and make available mechanized ridges for commercial production.

The YIIFSWA project ended in December 2016 with an expected additional grant for a second phase upscale.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh   

Audio Report: Farmers embrace agronomic technologies for sustainable yam production

Yam is a major food crop with high export value for Ghana.

But like many other crops, its production is under the threat of climate change as farmers experience poor rains in recent times.

Ghanaian researchers are however promoting the use of mechanized ridging to reduce drudgery in yam production.

They explain the improved agronomic technology is climate resilient and gender-sensitive to sustain yam production in the face of climate change.

The farm is the classroom where the farmers and research scientists get themselves busy with the soil to learn how to better produce yam for higher income.

Kofi Adu Domfeh spoke to farmers and researchers at a farm in Nyomoase in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region and filed this report…

https://soundcloud.com/kofi-adu-domfeh-1/technology-for-sustainable-yam-production

Agronomic technologies for sustainable yam production in the face of climate change

Farmers at Nyomoase in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region are happy to embrace an improved technology in yam production.

The farm is the classroom where the farmers and research scientists get themselves busy with the soil to learn how to better produce yam for higher income and reduction in drudgery.

At the end of eight months in field activities – planting and assessment of vegetative stage, an examination is undertaken by way of harvest and evaluation of the differences in crop yields between an introduced improved technology and the farmers’ practice.

Sumaila Rufai, a 32 year-old father of four, is enthused at the new knowledge of generating multiple planting materials of seed yam.

“We have been very wasteful with the use of seed yams,” he observed. “For instance, instead of planting a seed on one mound, now I know I can do that on 4-5 mounds”.

This and other best agronomic practices are off-shoots of the technology introduced to the farmers.

The participatory approach is the best to encourage farmers to adopt new agricultural technologies, according to research scientists from the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The introduction of the “Improved Agronomic Technologies for Sustainable Yam Production” involves the use of mechanized ridges and minimum staking per unit area, dubbed “trellis”, as well as fertilizer application on continuously cropped fields.

“…and you can see the yield as we weigh is about 35-50percent increase on the ridges as compared to the farmers’ practice and you can see the sprout rate was better on the ridges as compared to the mounds,” noted Eric Owusu Danquah, a Yam Agronomist leading the project.

The Project is under the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAPP), funded by the World Bank. Trials are taking place on selected farmers’ fields within Ejuraand Atebubu-Amantin yam producing agro-ecological zones of Ghana. .

The five-year project ends in 2017 and already the technology developers are satisfied with the rate of adoption.

Hannah Adade is a 65-year old mother of seven. She has been supporting her husband in yam production for over 40 years, long enough to appreciate the benefits of the improved production technology.

“We have more yield now growing yam on ridges than with mounds,” she said. “I encourage other farmers to come on board to also benefit”.

The use of the mechanized ridges reduces drudgery, which encourages women like Madam Hannah to venture into yam production for improved livelihoods.

Yam is a major food crop and Ghana is a lead exporter of the commodity.

Generally, yam produced with mounds give larger tubers but it is difficult to meet the export market requirements.  Ridges however give sizable weight for export and also help in preservation.

The researchers are collaborating with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to fabricate and make available Mechanized Ridgers at vantage points to ease farmers’ access to go into production.

At Nyomoase, the farmers and researchers took the risk of planting the yam in drought, as the rains failed to pour in June and July, 2015.

“Even planting in drought you can see that the yields are still better,” said Mr. Owusu Danquah after harvesting the yam in December, touting the climate-reliance of the technology.

Farmers, traditionally, are inclined to clear new fields for yam production, in which process they contribute to deforestation and depletion of carbon sinks that eventually leads to climate change.

“We are encouraging farmers to plant on continuously cropped fields and that means they’ll not open up new areas, so at least we have our carbon sinks intact; and this is a technology which uses ropes and few stakes, so the farmers do not have to fell trees for staking. So this is climate resilient,” Mr. Owusu Danquah said.

Ghanaian farmers, like many others in Sub-sahara Africa, rely heavily on the rains to produce food.

The poor downpour in 2015 severely affected food production in Ghana, a situation that threatens food security in 2016.

Felix Frimpong, a research scientist focused on climate resilient crop production, says the adoption of climate smart agricultural practices is the way to go for Ghanaian farmers.

“We need to support the farmers with fertilizer subsidies, resilient crop varieties and farming technologies, increased diversification of agriculture systems, promotion of simple irrigation facilities, we need to also train them and advocate that the old ways of farming need to change to ensure increased productivity and climate resilient,” he stated.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Researchers successfully grow “seed yams in the air”

Researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have successfully grown seed yams in the air using aeroponics technology, 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 and southern Africa 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.

However with an established Aeroponics System for seed yam propagation at the premises of an interested private investor, seed company or humanitarian nongovernmental organization; yam producers can have access to clean seed yams.

The soilless yam propagation system will increase the productivity of seed and ware yam and effectively reduce diseases and pests incidence and severity (no soilborne or vector-transmitted pests and diseases during the vegetative phase).

Dr Robert Asiedu, IITA Director for Western Africa described the results as “impressive.”

“Yam is an important crop in Africa and addressing the seeds’ constraint will go a long way in improving the livelihoods of farmers who depend on the crop for their livelihood,” he added.

In conducting the aeroponics trial, a special structure was built in an existing screen house with Dixon shelf frames using perforated styrofoam box, as support for plant vines, while the developing roots of the plants in the air were enclosed in conditions of total darkness to simulate the situation of soil to the roots.

For the plant and tuber to develop, an automated power house system was established for atomizing periodically nutrient enriched water solution in the form of mist to feed the plants.