A Transdisciplinary Approach for the Development of Sustainable Yam (Dioscorea sp.) Production in West Africa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. The Yam Growing Regions
2.1.1. Biophysical and Socio-Economic Characteristics
2.1.2. Cropping Practices
2.2. Setting up Innovation Platforms
2.3. Problems Ranking in Yam Production and Co-Development of Technologies
2.4. Transfer of Technologies from Research to Farmers’ Fields
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Names and Visions of Innovation Platforms
3.2. Identified Problems and co-Developed Technologies
3.3. Application of the Technologies in Farmers’ Fields
3.4. Key Success Stories Resulting From the Study
3.5. Limitations, Challenges, and Lessons Learnt
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Cropping Practices | Regions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Midebdo | Léo | ||
Dominant yam species (and variety) | D. alata (C18) | D. alata (woroba)/D. rotundata (krenglè) | D. alata (florido)/D. rotundata (pahinté) | D. alata (florido)/ D. rotundata (wassara, sandjarè, pouna) | |
Most common position of yam in typical rotations | Fallow or old cocoa plantation/yam/with groundnut or cassava /new cocoa plantation | Fallow/yam/maize or rice or grain legumes/yam | Fallow/yam/maize or groundnut or sorghum/millet | Fallow/maize or groundnut or cowpea/yam | |
Most common intercropping including yam | Yam + early stage cocoa trees Byam + vegetables | Yam + early stage cashew trees Byam + vegetables | Yam + millet | None | |
External inputs in yam fields | Glyphosate to clear the land | Glyphosate to clear the land, mineral fertilizers added to maize and rice | None | Mineral fertilizers and manure added to yam, maize, pre and post emergence herbicides used against weeds | |
Number of mounds (103 mounds/ha) | D. alata | 13.5 (2.4) | 7.6 (1.2) | 4.0 (0.3) | na |
D. rotundata | na | 7.5 (2.0) | 4.0 (0.3) | 4.9 (0.4) |
Category of Stakeholders | Regions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Midebdo | Léo | |
Researchers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Farmers | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Traders | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Transporters | na | na | na | 1 |
Processors | 1 | na | 2 | 1 |
Extension agents | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
Inputs suppliers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Microfinances | na | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Media | na | 1 | na | 1 |
Security agents | na | 1 | na | 1 |
Traditional authorities | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Religious authorities | 1 | 1 | na | na |
Administrative authorities | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
Total | 18 | 26 | 25 | 23 |
IP Name and Vision | Regions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
IP name | Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Midebdo | Léo |
Aglossié (Bété language) | Djiguisêmê (Kôro language) | Si-Jia-Por (Lobiri language) | Pia-kakila-kio (Gourounsi language) | |
Let’s crop yam | Hope | Wake up yam | Star of yam | |
IP vision | Increase yam and rice production to decrease expenses for food | Develop cropping systems that preserve the environment and increase yam yields | Develop yam seed and processing sectors | Make yam the pillar of the local economy by improving yam quantity and quality |
Problems | Solutions | Solutions per Region | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Midebdo | Léo | ||
Low soil fertility | Fertilization | Water soluble mineral fertilizer (WSMF) alone; poultry manure (PM) alone; WSMF + PM | WSMF; PM; WSMF + PM | WSMF; cow manure (CM); WSMF + CM | WSMF; CM; WSMF + CM |
Scarcity of land | Crops in rotation with yam | Maize; groundnut; cowpea | Rice; groundnut; | Maize; groundnut | Maize; groundnut |
Scarcity of land | Crops intercropped with yam | Maize | Maize | Millet | Cowpea |
Bad performance of traditional yam varieties | Introduce new yam species (varieties) | D. alata: (C18) in 2016, and 2018; D. rotundata: (R3) in 2017 | D. alata: (Woroba) in 2016, 2017; (C18) in 2018; D. rotundata: (Krenglè) in 2016, 2017; (R3) in 2018 | D. alata:(Florido) in 2016;(C18) in 2018; D. rotundata: (Pahinté) in 2017; (R3) in 2018 | D. alata: (Florido) in 2016; (C18) in 2018; D. rotundata: (Wassara) in 2017; (R3) in 2018 |
Scarcity of land | Increased planting density to 1 plant/m2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Poor seed quality | Seed treatment with wood ash and fungicide | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Poor storage | Improved Storage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Deforestation to produce stakes | Improved Staking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Seed Production Aspects | Regions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Midebdo | Léo | |
Number of farmers trained | 73 | 59 | 18 | 105 |
Number of seed of 200–250 g produced | 50,345 | 36,307 | 4370 | 14,763 |
Surface that can be sown with the seeds (ha) | 5.03 | 3.63 | 0.44 | 1.48 |
Species (varieties) produced | D. alata (C18) | D. alata (woroba), D. rotundata (krenglé) | D. alata (florido) | D. rotundata (wassara) |
Species | Yield Aspects | Treatments | Regions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liliyo | Tiéningboué | Léo | |||
D. alata | Total fresh tuber yield (t/ha) | T1plots 1 | 11.13 (6.05) | 7.97 (4.78) | na |
T0 plots | 6.25 (3.71) | 6.18 (5.36) | na | ||
p-value 2 | <0.001 | 0.138 | na | ||
Marketable fresh tuber yield (t/ha) | T1plots | 8.18 (5.69) | 4.98 (4.41) | na | |
T0 plots | 4.02 (2.32) | 4.48 (4.64) | na | ||
p-value | <0.001 | 0.730 | na | ||
Germination rate (%) | T1plots | 96.0 (5.24) | 95.7 (7.89) | na | |
T0 plots | 84.9 (11.8) | 94.6 (6.28) | na | ||
p-value | <0.001 | 0.149 | na | ||
D. rotundata | Total fresh tuber yield (t/ha) | T1plots | na | 10.02 (6.08) | 11.58 (6.25) |
T0 plots | na | 4.25 (4.17) | 9.30 (5.00) | ||
p-value | na | 0.001 | 0.068 | ||
Marketable fresh tuber yield (t/ha) | T1plots | na | 6.93 (5.41) | 5.53 (3.21) | |
T0 plots | na | 2.50 (3.66) | 5.20 (3.09) | ||
p-value | na | 0.002 | 0.620 | ||
Germination rate % | T1plots | na | 90.7 (11.4) | 93.4 (5.78) | |
T0 plots | na | 86.9 (13.1) | 94.2 (5.03) | ||
p-value | na | 0.404 | 0.495 |
Co-Developed Technologies | Advantages | Disadvantages | Solutions |
---|---|---|---|
Seed cleaning | Allows good germination | Time consuming Risk of poisoning | Equipment for protection Use of bio pesticides |
Increased planting density (1 plant/m2) | Reduces cropped surface Reduces labor Allows water harvesting | Additional work to remake mounds Destruction of roots when mounds are remade due to the small size of mounds | Remake the mounds when plants are still young and have less root biomass |
Staking that requires less wood | Reduces the weeds pressure Maintains soil moisture | Lack of wood Difficult to get authorization from the national forestry commission to get wood Requires technical knowledge | Plant trees to have more wood Strengthen exchange with the national forestry commission |
Balanced mineral fertilization | Improves plant growth Improves tuber quality | Fertilizer formulation for yam not available at market | Train farmers to make the formulations Raise awareness among input sellers about yam cultivation Develop the yam and fertilizer markets |
Organic fertilization | Improves soil structure Maintains soil moisture Improves plants growth Increases tuber size | Not available Lack of transportation Increases weeds population | Train farmers to make composts Intensify livestock farming |
Organic + Mineral | Improves plants growth Improves crop yields | Fertilizer formulation for yam not available at market | Train farmers to make the formulations Raise awareness among input sellers about yam cultivation Develop the yam market |
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Kiba, D.I.; Hgaza, V.K.; Aighewi, B.; Aké, S.; Barjolle, D.; Bernet, T.; Diby, L.N.; Ilboudo, L.J.; Nicolay, G.; Oka, E.; et al. A Transdisciplinary Approach for the Development of Sustainable Yam (Dioscorea sp.) Production in West Africa. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104016
Kiba DI, Hgaza VK, Aighewi B, Aké S, Barjolle D, Bernet T, Diby LN, Ilboudo LJ, Nicolay G, Oka E, et al. A Transdisciplinary Approach for the Development of Sustainable Yam (Dioscorea sp.) Production in West Africa. Sustainability. 2020; 12(10):4016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104016
Chicago/Turabian StyleKiba, Delwendé Innocent, Valérie Kouamé Hgaza, Beatrice Aighewi, Sévérin Aké, Dominique Barjolle, Thomas Bernet, Lucien N. Diby, Léa Jeanne Ilboudo, Gian Nicolay, Esther Oka, and et al. 2020. "A Transdisciplinary Approach for the Development of Sustainable Yam (Dioscorea sp.) Production in West Africa" Sustainability 12, no. 10: 4016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104016
APA StyleKiba, D. I., Hgaza, V. K., Aighewi, B., Aké, S., Barjolle, D., Bernet, T., Diby, L. N., Ilboudo, L. J., Nicolay, G., Oka, E., Ouattara, F. Y., Pouya, N., Six, J., & Frossard, E. (2020). A Transdisciplinary Approach for the Development of Sustainable Yam (Dioscorea sp.) Production in West Africa. Sustainability, 12(10), 4016. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12104016