The National Varietal Release and Registration Committee (NVRRC of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has approved five new varieties of yam developed by a team of researchers from the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR – SARI).
The release and dissemination of these varieties will help improve the production of yam in Ghana and improve the livelihoods of farmers and other actors in the yam value chain.
The proposed varieties combine high tuber yield with acceptable end-user preferred food quality for pounded yam and boiled/sliced yam.
Results of the economic analysis indicated high revenue or benefit for the proposed varieties, indicating that farmers can their investment and still generate GH¢4.9, GH¢3.8, GH¢3.8, GH¢3.6, and GH¢2.8 for every GH¢1 invested compared to the farmer variety with a benefit cost ratio of GH¢2.9.
Rationale behind the new varieties
A yam breeder, Dr. Emmanuel Chamba, said yam production and consumption have been on the increase over the years, hence the research to identify yam varieties that will ensure crop yields and value for money. He, however, said the increase in demand is often met by increasing the land area under cultivation rather than increasing the yield per unit area.
Dr. Chamba noted that with the increasing population and demand for land for other uses, the trend of area expansion is not sustainable, and the fallow period has become shorter creating an urgent need for improved high-yielding varieties with acceptable end-user quality.
He said the objective is to evaluate the agronomic performance and propose for release yam genotypes that can easily be adapted to the Guinea Savannah agro-ecological zone of the country.
Selection Process
According to him, a selection index is based on tuber yield, yam mosaic virus (YMV) and yam anthracnose disease (YAD) resistance, tuber dry matter content and maturity period; and ten superior landraces were selected for multi-locational evaluation in 2016 and 2017.
“Based on performance of the genotypes in the two-year multi-locational evaluation, five landraces that combine high tuber yield with acceptable food quality were identified for on-farm trials in 2018 and 2019. After two years of an-farm evaluation across five locations, five landraces were proposed for release based on their tuber yield, disease resistance, and consumer acceptability for pounded yam and sliced yam,” he said.
Characteristics of the newly developed yam
Dr. Chamba said the SDr1403004 is preferred mainly for its early maturity and superior food quality, while SDr1403003, SDr1403005 and SDr1403074 combine high tuber yield with long shelf-life and good food quality, especially after long storage.
The SDr1403031 is high yielding, stores well and produces multiple medium-sized tubers that are ideal for the export market, he added.
The approval by NVRRC forms the first stage of processes leading to the official release of the yam variety to Ghanaian farmers. The NVRRC is the authority responsible for approving the official release of new crop varieties in Ghana based on laid-down procedures he said
Recommendations by NVRRC
The leader of the NVRRC, Dr. Paulina Addy who represented the Chairman, Seth Osei-Akoto, said the committee recommended the research team to provide documents highlighting the location of specific characteristics of the genotype, the climate resilient qualities, the complete composition of the research team and data on the virus index. And shelf life.