EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONAL AND BAG PLANTING METHODS FOR YAM CULTIVATION

ABSTRACT

White Guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.) is an important staple to millions of people in West Africa. It is a staple food and the most cultivated yam species in Nigeria. White yam has a range of varieties, depending on their location (region) and morphology. The variety of white yam used for this experiment is the Abakiliki white yam also known as Dioscorea rotundata poir Obiaoturugo. Obiaoturugo is a variety of white yam found in southeastern Nigeria, Field experiment was conducted during the cropping season of 2023, at a paired farm at Ogida quarters, in Benin city. The study was laid out a private plot experiment with 10 replications, conventional and bag method of yam cultivation was the treatment. This experiment is undertaken to compare bag and conventional methods of yam production in terms of cost of production and yield. The result in shows that WTE has significant differences at 5% level, While NON, NOL and VL have no significant differences. Shows the variable cost for conventional and bag yam production, which indicated that conventional method amounted to about 68% of the percentage cost compared to bag which was 32%. This experiment demonstrated that bag and conventional yam production has no significant difference in terms of growth rate, in the case of production cost bag yam method cultivation is cheaper than conventional yam method of cultivation. Of yield the use of bag method for yam production is more reasonable in terms of production cost. Further, research and adaptation of this method can improve yam production and food security in rural and urban areas in Nigeria.