"Knowledge and identification of technologies developed for high-quality yam seed production" is the central topic of the Seminar-Workshop on yam carried out in Córdoba

• Small yam producers and associations in Montes de María participated in the Seminar-Workshop on yam.
• Knowledge and identification of technologies developed for high-quality yam seeds production.
• Seed quality is directly related to higher tuber production and greater crop profitability.
• Using the knowledge acquired in the seminar-workshop could achieve significance in obtaining more uniform crops with higher quality tubers.

 

Montería, Córdoba. May 15, 2023. Within the framework of the Public-Private Alliance on Yam (Alianza Público Privada de Ñame) between AGROSAVIA and the United States Agency for International  Development (USAID), the Seminar-Workshop "Technological Proposal for the Management and Production of Quality Yam Seed that Contributes to its Uniformity and Safety in the Colombian Caribbean Coast," was held in the Turipaná Research Center to strengthen the competitiveness of the yam agribusiness in Montes de María, increase access to goods and public services, develop technical capacities and business partners of producers and facilitate sustainable business alliances.

 

During these two days of work, small producers and yam associations located in Montes de María and the departments of Córdoba and Sucre, such as ASOPROCAP, ASOMUDEPAS, ASICHAV, ASOVICAMPRO, ASOGRASO, AMOR A MI TIERRA, AMUSI, and ASOAGROPLAZSAN participated in this seminar-workshop. These were selected in the technical table of the Public-Private Alliance on Yam, developing the training framed in the Project "Development of technologies for the management and production of quality seed to improve the uniformity and productivity of yam cultivation in the Colombian Caribbean region." Furthermore, Indigenous Councils, Fundación Horizonte, Agencia de Renovación del Territorio officials, and entities such as ICA and SENA of the Sucre and Bolívar Headquarters also participated.

Diana Beatriz Sánchez López, M.Sc. Associate Researcher and project leader indicates, "As part of the seminar, there were theoretical talks and practical demonstrations in the laboratory and plant nursery where they acquired knowledge and identified technologies developed for producing high-quality yam seeds."

The topics discussed included: i) Current and future context for cultivating the hawthorn yam in the Colombian Caribbean region. ii) Protocols for the mass production of yam seeds (in vitro production of seedlings, acclimatization in the nursery, mass production of mini-tubers, and production of cuttings supplemented with plant growth-promoting bacteria and yam planting. iii) Protocol for the production of mini-sections in conventional yam seed. iv) Protocol for breaking dormancy in yam mini-sections with plant growth regulators. v) Laboratory identification of the main causative agents of the yam hawthorn rots disease, pathogenic fungi that affect the stem and aerial part of the hawthorn yam.

Researcher Sánchez expressed that AGROSAVIA is willing to share knowledge with stakeholders in the agricultural sector to strengthen the yam production chain due to the economic impact that this problem has for farmers, based on the identification of the pathogens associated with the "Dry rot disease of the yam tuber." In addition, she pointed out that "by using the knowledge acquired during the two days of the seminar-workshop, significance from a practical point of view in obtaining more uniform crops and with higher quality tubers (size and uniformity) could be obtained." Likewise, she adds that the previous is of great importance for the yam chain since the seed quality is directly related to higher production of tubers and greater crop profitability. The execution will allow generating economic alternatives for the continuous propagation of yam seeds and increase the competitiveness of the yam crop.