Yams: Traditional ways of managing their diversity for food security in southern Ghana - Managing Agrodiversity the Traditional Way - page 82

Table 7.1 Yam maintenance strategies

Strategy Frequency of practice (%)

Regular replanting of heirloom varieties 100

High-priced varieties and varieties planted 100

in home gardens under intensive care
Varieties at risk of disappearing are actively 37.3

sought out by farmers on germplasm collection trips
Self-regenerated plants from naturally 80

dispersed seeds produced by flowering
varieties are protected
Tubers are milked and the vines replanted 100

to produce planting material
Careful storage of planting materials on 70

raised platform barns, etc. to ensure viability
Exchange of planting materials between
farmers during farmers' gatherings, etc.
Lodging of germplasm with relatives living 37.3

outside immediate vicinity as insurance
against lost of cultivars under unfavourable
conditions
Reintroduction of some cultivars/land-races 37.3

from original sources
Management of some heirloom varieties 100

as perennials in home gardens and the
main farms

Summary and conclusion

The rich diversity of yams held by farmers in southern Ghana owes its existence to
the intricately woven socio-cultural practices as well as management systems adopt-
ed by the farmers. Specific varieties are required for special cultural activities, there-
by necessitating the continued cultivation of such varieties. Also many customs are
woven around yam harvest which control the timing of the sale and consumption of
yam tubers after harvest that may indirectly contribute to maintenance of the yams.
Another contributing factor to the maintenance of yam agrodiversity is that specific
yam types are required for various dishes consumed by the farm family. This
demands that the different types are continually planted for family needs.
Farmers exploit the different ecological niches on their holdings for maintenance
of a wide diversity of yams. The different yam varieties are grown under different
land-use systems. Yam species such as bush yams, aerial yams, and trifoliate yams
that are adapted to forest conditions are grown under agroforestry systems or
sometimes in conserved forests. On the other hand, water yams, Chinese yams, and
yellow yams are preferentially grown under more sunny conditions in land-use
systems such as annual cropping systems or in non-agroforestry home gardens.
The different land-use systems are also exploited for the maintenance and conser-
vation of the yams. Hence under agroforestry and forest fallows, seeds of some