IMPACT OF THE ADAPTED YAM MINISETT TECHNIQUE ON WARE YAM (DIOSCOREA ROTUNDATA) PRODUCTION UNDER FARMER-MANAGED CONDITIONS IN NIGERIA

White yam (Dioscorea rotundata) is a major root crop grown throughout West Africa and a major limitation on its production is the availability of good quality (i.e. free of pests and diseases) planting material, notably seed yams. One of the methods developed to address this limitation is the Adapted Yam Minisett Technique (AYMT) and since 2012 the AYMT has been promoted in both Nigeria and Ghana via a Bill and Melinda Gates funded project entitled Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa (YIIFSWA). While previously published studies have focussed on the agronomy of the sett-to-seed yam process, there has been no work done on the seed-to-ware yam stage which is critical in terms of farmer income and livelihood. This paper provides the first published evidence obtained under entirely farmer-managed conditions in Africa that shows seed yams produced via the AYMT can generate agronomic benefits in the water yam stage, including better germination, tuber numbers and weights.