American Journal of Life Sciences

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Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia

Received: 21 March 2017    Accepted: 31 March 2017    Published: 17 May 2017
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Abstract

Yams are the Dioscoreaceae vine plants grown as staple food in tropical and sub-tropical regions that produce underground tubers or aerial bulbs. This researchwas developed with objective of assessing the distribution, diversity and potential production of yams (Dioscorea spp.) in sheko district, Bench Maji Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 147 informants were selected from six Kebeles using purposive and random sampling method. Reliable data were collected from households using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and field observations which were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and descriptive statistics. A total of 3 different types of yam species (Dioscorea abyssinica, Dioscorea alata and Dioscorea bulbifera) were recorded from Sheko district. Yams were identified as a main staple food for the Sheko people. Four well adopted varieties selected by indigenous farmers of Sheko district were identified; among white yam is most preferred one due to its taste and high yield performance. The findings of the study revealed that most of the farmers (96.8%) highly practicing intercropping whereas few farmers (3.2%) practice monoculture mode of cultivation. Farmers’ indigenous experience on production of yam crops in almost all representative kebeles of the District was observed to be tremendous. Therefore, indigenous knowledge of farmers must be valued and supported by research to analyze the productive variety and further improved production and post harvest technology should be introduced.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12
Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 3, June 2017)
Page(s) 86-92
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Distribution, Indigenous Knowledge, Production, Yams

References
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[8] IBC 2008. Ethiopia: Second Country Report on the State of PGRFA to FAO, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. IFPRI Issue brief, September 2008. Washington DC.
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[17] Mignouna, H. D., Abang, M. M., & Asiedu, R. 2003. Harnessing Modern Biotechnology for Tropical Tuber Crop Improvement: Yam (Dioscorea spp.) Molecular Breeding. Available online.
[18] Mignouna, H. D., and A. Dansi. 2003. Yam (Dioscoreaspp.) domesticated by the Nago and Fonethnic groups in Benin. Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 50:519–528.
[19] Sanginga, N. 2015. Root and Tuber Crops (Cassava, Yam, Potato and Sweet Potato). An action plan for African agricultural transformation.
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Author Information
  • Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Science, Wolkite University, Wolkite, Ethiopia

  • Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resource, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan-Teferi, Ethiopia

  • Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Science, Mizan-Tepi University, Tepi, Ethiopia

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  • APA Style

    Belachew Garedew, Bewuketu Haile, Aklilu Ayiza. (2017). Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia. American Journal of Life Sciences, 5(3), 86-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12

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    ACS Style

    Belachew Garedew; Bewuketu Haile; Aklilu Ayiza. Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia. Am. J. Life Sci. 2017, 5(3), 86-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12

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    AMA Style

    Belachew Garedew, Bewuketu Haile, Aklilu Ayiza. Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia. Am J Life Sci. 2017;5(3):86-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12,
      author = {Belachew Garedew and Bewuketu Haile and Aklilu Ayiza},
      title = {Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {86-92},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20170503.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20170503.12},
      abstract = {Yams are the Dioscoreaceae vine plants grown as staple food in tropical and sub-tropical regions that produce underground tubers or aerial bulbs. This researchwas developed with objective of assessing the distribution, diversity and potential production of yams (Dioscorea spp.) in sheko district, Bench Maji Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 147 informants were selected from six Kebeles using purposive and random sampling method. Reliable data were collected from households using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and field observations which were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and descriptive statistics. A total of 3 different types of yam species (Dioscorea abyssinica, Dioscorea alata and Dioscorea bulbifera) were recorded from Sheko district. Yams were identified as a main staple food for the Sheko people. Four well adopted varieties selected by indigenous farmers of Sheko district were identified; among white yam is most preferred one due to its taste and high yield performance. The findings of the study revealed that most of the farmers (96.8%) highly practicing intercropping whereas few farmers (3.2%) practice monoculture mode of cultivation. Farmers’ indigenous experience on production of yam crops in almost all representative kebeles of the District was observed to be tremendous. Therefore, indigenous knowledge of farmers must be valued and supported by research to analyze the productive variety and further improved production and post harvest technology should be introduced.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Distribution, Diversity and Potential Production of Yams (Dioscorea spp.) in Sheko District, Southwest Ethiopia
    AU  - Belachew Garedew
    AU  - Bewuketu Haile
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    JO  - American Journal of Life Sciences
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    AB  - Yams are the Dioscoreaceae vine plants grown as staple food in tropical and sub-tropical regions that produce underground tubers or aerial bulbs. This researchwas developed with objective of assessing the distribution, diversity and potential production of yams (Dioscorea spp.) in sheko district, Bench Maji Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 147 informants were selected from six Kebeles using purposive and random sampling method. Reliable data were collected from households using semi-structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and field observations which were analyzed by using Microsoft excel and descriptive statistics. A total of 3 different types of yam species (Dioscorea abyssinica, Dioscorea alata and Dioscorea bulbifera) were recorded from Sheko district. Yams were identified as a main staple food for the Sheko people. Four well adopted varieties selected by indigenous farmers of Sheko district were identified; among white yam is most preferred one due to its taste and high yield performance. The findings of the study revealed that most of the farmers (96.8%) highly practicing intercropping whereas few farmers (3.2%) practice monoculture mode of cultivation. Farmers’ indigenous experience on production of yam crops in almost all representative kebeles of the District was observed to be tremendous. Therefore, indigenous knowledge of farmers must be valued and supported by research to analyze the productive variety and further improved production and post harvest technology should be introduced.
    VL  - 5
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