CropDemanding
White yam
Dioscorea rotundata Poir.
Temperature
25°C to 32°C
Rainfall
941mm to 1600mm per season
Conditions
What it needs
Soil
Deep, loose soil that a tuber can grow down into. Mounds or ridges, never a hard pan.
Water
A long season and steady rain through tuber bulking. Yam is planted before the rains and lives on them for most of a year.
What you will need
Tick what you already have; Grow carries the rest into the cost working.
Grow holds no supplier listings and no local prices, so it cannot tell you where to buy these or what they cost near you. Ask at your nearest agrodealer or extension office, then put those figures into the planner.
Through the season
Stages
- 01
Land preparation and mounding
21 days- Clear
- Build mounds or ridges
- 02
Planting
7 days- Plant setts
- Mulch the mounds
- 03
Sprouting and staking
45 days- Stake the vines
- First weeding
- 04
Vine growth
60 days- Second weeding
- Watch for anthracnose
- 05
Tuber bulking
90 days- Keep weeds down
- Do not disturb the mounds
- 06
Harvest and curing
30 days- Lift carefully
- Cure before storing
Watch for
Common problems
Yam anthracnose
- What you will see
- Dark spots on leaves that spread until the vine dies back, worst in wet weather.
- What to do
- Plant clean seed yams from a healthy field, stake so the vines dry, and rotate.
Nematodes
- What you will see
- Cracked and galled tubers that rot in storage.
- What to do
- Use clean planting material, rotate away from yam for several seasons, and do not replant tubers from an affected field.
Tuber rot in storage
- What you will see
- Soft, dark patches spreading through stored tubers.
- What to do
- Cure tubers before storing, handle them without bruising, and store in a dry, airy barn off the ground.
Follow the label for doses, and ask an extension officer or vet before using a chemical you have not used before.