Yam is a preferred food security crop in the drier areas of Kenya. One plant is reported to be able to produce 1 full 90 kg bag of tubers, which can be harvested a few at the time for home consumption or sold in the market for a good price.
Where are yams grown in Kenya?
Most of the yams come from the nearby Justin Karuma’s five-acre farm in Kiamuriuki, some kilometres from Kiracha.
Do yams grow in Africa?
In Africa, yam starchy tubers are mainly produced in the “yam belt,” a region including the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon (7), which accounts for 97% of African yam production (www.fao.org/faostat).
Is yam farming profitable in Kenya?
In a good season, he sells a debe of yams at Ksh 7,000 and earns approximately Ksh. 30,000 from a single stem. The crop is slowly gaining popularity among Kenyan farmers due to its ease of growing and high returns. Yam is a good source of energy and each 100 grams contain 118 calories.
Where can yams be found?
54 million tons of yams are farmed in sub-Saharan Africa. This place, called the “yam belt” produces 95 percent of the world’s yams. There are more than 150 varieties of yams available world-wide.
What is yam called in Kenya?
Maruku (Dioscorea bulbifera) is a climbing yam that bears its “tubers” (actually bulbils) along the stems. It grows up to a height of about 10 meeres and produces yams only once a year, starting from around March and reaching maturity around August or September.
What is yam in Swahili?
What is the translation of “yam” in Swahili? en. volume_up. yam = nduma.
Is yam and cassava the same?
Yams, sweet potatoes, and cassava are classed as tuberous root vegetables that come from a flowering plant but are not related and do not have much in common. In the U.S., they are marketed as different vegetables.
Is yam and sweet potato the same?
That sweet, orange-colored root vegetable that you love so dearly is actually a sweetpotato. Yes, all so-called “yams” are in fact sweetpotatoes. Most people think that long, red-skinned sweetpotatoes are yams, but they really are just one of many varieties of sweetpotatoes.
What is a Nigerian yam?
Yam is in the class of roots and tubers that is a staple of the Nigerian and West African diet, which provides some 200 calories of energy per capital daily. In Nigeria, in many yam-producing areas, it is said that “yam is food and food is yam”.
What is yam in Kikuyu?
Also among the Kikuyu of Central Kenya, a lot of tubers, ngwaci (sweet potatoes), ndũma (taro root) known in Kenya as arrowroot, ikwa (yams), and mianga (cassava) are eaten as well as legumes like beans and a Kikuyu bean known as njahi.
Where is cassava grown in Kenya?
In Kenya, cassava is the second most important root crop after Irish potato grown throughout Kenya but mostly in the western, coastal, and Eastern regions (especially in arid and semi-arid areas) (Muinga et al., 2010; Githunguri et al., 2017).
How do you farm yams?
You can start cultivating yam by clearing the bushes or your farmland and tilling it, making mounds or ridges, depending on the size of yam you want to cultivate and the size you are expecting to harvest. After making your mounds, you can go ahead planting your small whole yams or portions you cut out from the whole.
What is the common name for yam?
Pictures
| Title | Caption |
|---|---|
| Leaves | Dioscorea alata (winged yam, uhi); leaves. Maui Nui Botanical Garden, Maui. November 06, 2006 |
| Flowers | Dioscorea alata (winged yam, uhi); flowers. Maui Nui Botanical Garden, Maui. November 06, 2006 |
| Yamlet | Dioscorea alata (winged yam, uhi); yamlet. Maui Nui Botanical Garden, Maui. November 06, 2006 |
Is a yam a potato?
Yams are not a type of potato. Both are stem tubers that grow underground, but they belong to different botanical families. The potato is a part of the nightshade family, which also includes peppers and tomatoes. Yams belong to a plant family of flowering vines that surprisingly includes grasses and lilies.
Why are yams important in Africa?
Importance. Yams are primary agricultural commodities and major staple crops in Africa, where yam cultivation began 11,000 years ago. In West Africa they are major sources of income and have high cultural value. They are used in fertility and marriage ceremonies, and a festival is held annually to celebrate its harvest
Where can I buy yams in Kenya?
We source Kenya yams from family growers in Nyeri and Murang’a in Central as well as Eastern Kenya. In these areas, farmers often produce full sacks of 60-90 kilograms from single plants.
What are the diseases of yam?
The field and storage diseases are presented, anthracnose is regarded as the most widely spread of all the field diseases, while yam mosaic virus disease is considered to cause the most severe losses in yams. Dry rot is considered as the most devastating of all the storage diseases of yam.
Can you eat climbing yams?
The underground tubers of these interesting vines are edible, with an off-white, tender and flaky flesh which has a delicious, somewhat nutty flavor. They are delicious fried, baked, steamed, broiled, added to soups or casseroles, or mashed just like potatoes.
What is Yam called in English?
Sweet Potatoes, often called ‘yams’, are a dicot (a plant having two embryonic seed leaves) and are from the Convolvulacea or morning glory family.
What is German yam?
(= sweet potato) Süßkartoffel f, Batate f.