For more than 15 years, Simon Ngure from Mathioya Murang’a has been growing aerial yams after uprooting coffee bushes after being frustrated due to poor pay.
Initially Ngure had tried growing purple yams but it wasn’t doing well as the tubers were not growing big.
He met a friend who introduced him to the aerial yams commonly referred to as ‘Nigerian yams’ and he gave him one tuber to go and plant in his farm.
The yam grows and matures in six months and from one stem he got 20 bulbs which he used as tubers to multiply his farming.
The second round gave him a good harvest but because the yam was not popular among the residents he did not have a market to sell them. Instead he dished out to the neighbors and put more tubers back in the soil.
Ngure thought of a way he can popularize yam so that he can sell to the people for an income.
His first step was to attend the agricultural shows in various parts of the country and this became a breakthrough for his venture.
With a single tuber going for Sh300, he was able to make some good money out of it.
However a majority of the customers preferred to buy the tubers for planting in their homes citing the high cost of the produce.
This gave him an idea to be selling the tubers for replanting and he also started attracting more visitors to the farm who wanted to learn more about the yam.
“Most of the farmers preferred to buy the tubers for planting so that they can produce enough for consumption,” said Ngure.
“One stem can give you 20 kilograms of yams and this simply tells you its production is very high and a good venture for income generating” he added.
Unlike the traditional yams which take up to 12 months to mature, the aerial yams mature in five or six months depending on the climatic conditions. Also the harvesting of the bulbs is continuous as the vine produces the buds at different intervals.
“The matured yams often fall off by themselves but they take about two weeks to shed off the extra water and they are ready for cooking,” Ngure explained.
He says the short maturity time and high production makes the yam a better bet for food security adding that it has no limitation on climatic conditions and thus can be grown in any part of the country.
Further, he said aerial yams farming allows the farmer to optimally utilize the farm as you only elect poles to hold the vines and this gives room for growing other crops.
“The yams are not attacked by diseases and pests and one won’t require ant chemicals to control them and this ensures the safety of the produce,” he added.
To prepare the tuber for planting, you put the matured tuber in a breathable bag, keep it in a dark place preferably on earthen floor and give it time to produce the buds. He said this takes roughly two months to have it ready for planting.
“If you bury the tuber in the soil before it sprouts, it might rot in the ground and fail to germinate,” he said.
The farmer says organic farming is the best discouraging the use of the conventional inputs which he says may degrade the quality of the produce.
The yam he says is very nutritious as it has a number of minerals which are beneficial to the human body.
Ngure said he intends to expand his farming to grow more yams as he eyes to do value addition by processing yam flour.
“The flour will have a longer life span and it can be used to make several products unlike the bulb which is limited to only cooking,” he added.
“This will also open up market for other farmers in the area who have nowhere to sell their produce after harvesting, “remarked Ngure
Ngure has urged other farmers to embrace aerial yams farming as it is bound to give them some income .
By: Rebeccah Wangari
