Farmers at Nyomoase in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region are happy to embrace an improved technology in yam production called ‘Improved Agronomic Technologies for Sustainable Yam Production.’ In this way, 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 which is the 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.
Some farmers said they were happy at the new knowledge of generating multiple planting materials of seed yam. They said they had been very wasteful with the use of seed yams, for instance, instead of planting a seed on one mound, now I know I can do that on 4-5 mounds.
According to research scientists from the Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the participatory approach was the best to encourage farmers to adopt new agricultural technologies.
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.
The Project is under the West Africa Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAPP) and funded by the World Bank. Trials are taking place on selected farmers’ fields within the Ejura and 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. The use of the mechanized ridges reduces work which encourages farmers including women 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 Ridges 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.
