By Samuel SAM
The Savannah Agricultural Research Institute-Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-SARI) has held a workshop to educate stakeholders on the new Yam Variety Identification Technology System (YVITS).
The collaborative initiative with Japan International Research Centre-Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) and Tropical Agriculture Research Front (TARF) aimed to provide an effective and efficient method for DNA fingerprinting to confirm purity of the yam variety.
It is also to curb the sale of different varieties of yam such as Labaroko or white guinea yam which discourage many from patronising the tuber.
The YVITS is an open-access toolkit that enables various users to identify a yam’s variety in a simple lab facility by using Simple Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers (SSR) DNA marker techniques to verify the yam type from genetic analysis at low cost within a few days.
It is said that the yam variety identification technology, validated at the CSIR-SARI biotechnology laboratory, has proven highly effective in fingerprinting yam varieties cultivated nationwide.
The toolkit’s expected users are yam researchers, seed growers, inspection officers and extension officers who are involved in the various steps of yam improvement and dissemination.
Yam is said to be a major component of rural people’s livelihoods in Ghana and also serves as source of income for producers and households as well as an important food source for both local consumption and export.
A survey by the Institute indicated that in the Northern Region yam is identified as the most important cash and food crop and has received the highest priority ranking of all crops in the National Agricultural Research Strategy Plan (NARSP) and Agricultural Services Sector Investment Programme.
Frederick Awuku, assistant research scientist at SARI, said the dissemination workshop on the yam variety identification technology was to educate stakeholders on the new system developed and identity of yam varieties sold on the market.
“The system is to enable us differentiate varieties of yam that are on the market in order to prevent mischief and also bring certainty in the variety-identification of yam,” he said.
The technology, he noted, is very important in that it is going to help resolve the problem encountered in yam seed production for the export market and also with farmers, he added.
It will work effectively in helping farmers, the export market and seed companies especially, he noted.
Shinsuke Yamanaka, Director and Project Leader-Tropical Crop Genetic Resources, JIRCAS, said the system is to help researchers and seed producers identify the right yam variety for development and disbursement to farmers. It is also to help yam exporters identify the right variety of yam for export, he added.
Such kinds of information are used for farmers and also in the market, he said.
Dr. Francis Kusi, Director-SARI, said the institute has over the years been developing technologies for farmers, consumers, marketers and agencies to decide on the variety of yam for production and consumption.
The technology that we have developed is to support yam improvement in Ghana and also enable farmers to access quality planting material in large quantities by using a rapid modification approach, which is now all over the place, he noted.
He called on private investors to partner and make the technology viable and get farmers to increase their productivity.
