Possible Causes of Health Disorders in Stored Yam at Farm Gate

Abstract

This study investigated and ascertained causes of health disorders in stored yam at farm gate in major yam producing communities in the Nanumba North District of Ghana. A mixed method research design was adopted for data collection through the application of Participatory Research Appraisal tools and techniques including individual interviews using questionnaires. Random sampling technique was used to select five communities and hundred respondents. Data was analyzed via descriptive statistics which generated summaries, Tables, histograms, and pie-charts using SAS software. Ages of respondents were in the range of 11 to over 60 years with illiterate majority. They were inadequate in their knowledge of agronomic, harvest, and postharvest practices and techniques including curing, chemical or botanical treatments for the yam tuber prior to storage. Fresh yam produce was kept in shallow dug trenches where temporal storage was the target but stored their dry yam produce intended for long periods in barns (most preferred) and on wooden platforms which were more sustainable with a little preponderance of the former. Causes of yam health disorders and associated problems in store were insect pests, rodents, weed pests, diseases (tuber rot), yam beetles, snakes, scorpions, and the inability of some storage structures to keep produce for a long time. Research, government, and other stakeholder institutions should partner up and make improved and certified yam sets accessible and affordable, and intensify agriculture extension services’ interventions that empower farmers the knowledge on agronomic, harvest, and postharvest practices and techniques.