Hi hivers,

On a cool Sunday today, strolling in my area,I came across this farm and I said to myself let me write on tuber of yam.
And here it is. There are certain factors you should consider if you want to start planting yam anywhere in the country. These factors include land, soil, season for planting and cultivating the yam, the capital for starting, and more.

You should take the following steps if you desire to plant yam in Nigeria:

1. Preparation of the land or soil:

If you have about one hectare of land, you will have to prepare the soil for planting the yam seeds. It is necessary to clear bushes and grasses before rainy season if there are any. The weeds would be allowed to dry up with the soil to form organic manure. The months of February and April are best to plant yams when the rainy season is just beginning.

Prepare the ridge beds and measure one meter high and one meter gap from each heap or ridge. In the case of sloping or rolling fields, follow the contour to construct the ridges in order to minimize soil erosion.

2. Preparation of the Setts:

Properly prepare the setts which are the whole tubers cut in pieces and used for planting. A small tuber can be planted whole, while a big tuber should be cut in pieces to the size of 60g to 100g. The bigger the sett used, the higher is the expected seed, but should not be too large to avoid wasting resources.

3. Pre-Sprouting of Setts:

Because the emergence period of most freshly prepared setts in the field lasts from 3 to 12 weeks, it is better to pre-sprout the setts before they are planted. This method assures the emergence of setts when planted and reduces expenses on weeding before sett emergence.

4. Plant the Yams:

White yam is best planted in rainy season within the months of March and April, depending on the time the tuber dormancy is broken, as indicated by the sprouting of tubers under storage and upon beginning of rain in a particular area. That’s just the reason why the pre-sprouting process is best started ahead of the planting time, at least for 3 weeks.

5. Weeding:

The use of pre-sprouted setts, the application of mulch and the rate of weed growth determine the number of times a yam farm needs to be weeded. You can weed 2 to 3 times if non pre-sprouted setts are used and the field is not mulched. The weeding operations are needed before the yam canopy covers the space between rows to partially hold back the growth of the weed.

6. Harvesting:

Your yams are ready for harvest when the stalk and leaves display yellowish signs of drying up. Your harvest time can start from late November all through to late February the following year. It is advisable to first harvest tubers you want to sell or use even before foliage yellowing starts, and then you can later harvest the ones you intend to use as setts for next season’s planting.

Conclusion:

You will hardly find a person who doesn’t eat yam in Nigeria, because yam is one of the best sources of starch.

It is quite lucrative to take your tubers of yam to the market to sell and make profits from them.

I hope the above step-by-step guide on how to plant yam in Nigeria will help you go about this business venture easily.

You can tell us in the comment box how the information in this post has helped you, or about any experience you’ve had so far with yam farming, cultivation and business.

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