Given the decline in the quality of yam –the tuber with the highest production in the country– experienced in recent years, the Mayagüez University Campus (RUM) of the University of Puerto Rico leads a project with a view to preserving the health of the crop and improving its production in the future.
“This is a material that, Over the years, its quality has been declining because it is exposed to many diseases, so the quality of the seed source that (farmers) actually use is low. This, then, causes them to have low yield, the quality when the crop is stored is not the best, and so on.. Over the years, they have had more losses,” he summarized. Merari Feliciano Riveraprofessor and director of research projects on yams at the RUM.
Likewise, he highlighted that, although the demand for yams is increasing, its production has decreased. “Through the years and statistics, it has been seen that local demand for the crop is sustained, but we We only produce 20% of that local demand”, he noted.
“(The yam) has several properties. First, it is the tuber with the highest production on the island; It occupies third and fourth place among all farinaceous species. In addition to that, it has a peculiarity, and that is that something we experience after the Hurricane Maria (2017) is that, as this is a crop that is produced underground, it resisted the attacks of the hurricane, and that gives us everything that is food safety”, he highlighted.
With this context, Feliciano Rivera stated that his project “was born from a need of the local farmers” and search solve the problem that these workers use the same product both in sales and in planting.
In order to produce better and healthier seeds, the doctor and her team seek to combine regular and conventional practices, along with the industrial use of biology.
For production, they employ the practice of tissue culture. This consists of extracting pieces of the stem of the yam plant, planting them under sterile conditions – in which humidity, temperature and light are controlled – and then undergoing a process of acclimatization to the environment to start a new sowing. These processes began eight years ago.
On the other hand, in the plant multiplication phase, a system of bioreactors brought from Belgium and installed in the Agricultural Experiment Station of Isabella. This method, used for the propagation of yams, consists of extracting part of the plants produced through tissue culture and placing them inside a mechanical device that controls the amount of water and nutrients they receive. Compared to other methods, plants subjected to this process have a survival rate close to 100%; On the contrary, the rate in other methods, such as tissue culture, is 30%, added Feliciano Rivera.
“What we provide to the farmer, which was what we were delivering for the first time a few weeks ago, is the seed that we produce free of diseases. Once the plants have been removed from the bioreactor and acclimatized, the farmer receives the clean seed.”he added.
“In this first group, we impacted 20 farmers, who were selected based on how much they are producing, characteristics of what they have within their farm. The projection is, with the next planting cycle, to impact 20 more farmers. Something that is important to mention is that these farmers receive the seed, but One of the requirements to be able to receive the seed is that they spend a full day training in production, preserving the seed, using the best practices. The idea is that they can continue producing their own quality seeds,” he stated.
According to data from the most recent Census of Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculturewhich dates back to 2022, in the country, there are 491 farms planted with yams.
Currently, farmers, phytopathologists (scientists who study plant diseases), professors from the RUM, extension workers from the Agricultural Extension Serviceresearchers from the Isabela Agricultural Experimental Station, graduate and undergraduate students, economists and laboratory technicians, among others.
“The University, especially the College of Agricultural Sciences in Mayagüez, which has the three components – the academy, the Experimental Station and the Agricultural Extension Service –, has a direct role in addressing the needs of farmers. The needs of us, on the island, are very particular because we are in a geographical position that We have to consider all angles in production, so the University, over all the years, establishes the needs of farmers and we, within the RUM, submit proposals to be able to help these farmers.”he pointed out.