Dioscorea esculenta (Lour.) Burkill (Dioscoreaceae)
Common name:
Lesser yam, Asiatic yam (English); togeimo, togedokoro (Japanese)
Local name: In Thailand they called
Man musua, man chuak
Summary
Lesser Yam or Dioscorea esculenta is a perennial, climbing plant with a tuberous rootstock. It has spines and it can climb up to about 2.4 m high and spread up to 1.8 m across. The leaves are often heart-shaped It is often cultivated as root crop in tropical areas in East Asia. Though some varieties can be poisonous, most are edible. The tuber has a yellow or white flesh.
(We sold the white flesh variety to you)
It is cooked and used as vegetable. It has a sweet and pleasant flavour similar to that of sweet potato or chestnuts.
Herbaceous, pubescent, often prickly, climbing annual. Stem terete, twining to the left, prickly at the base and less so upwards; roots thorny in wild plants, often thornless in cultivated plants. Tubers 4–20 per plant.
Common climber in the subhumid and humid tropics; often cultivated in lowland areas with well-drained soil (pH 5.5–6.5).
The flowers are pollinated by Wind, Insects.
Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Propagated by planting small whole tubers on mounds, ridges, or flat ground. Tubers and larger bulbils are peeled, boiled, and cooked in curries or as a sweet.
HOW TO GROW:
For best yields, this species requires a deep, well-drained, sandy loam that is not liable to water-logging. This species will succeed in poor gravelly soils, especially if enriched with organic matter. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.5 - 8.5
Plough or dig the land to a depth of 15-20 cm. Prepare mounds at a spacing of 75 x 75 cm incorporating cattle manure @ 1 kg per mound. Apply cattle manure or compost at as basal dressing.
FERTILIZER ?
What is the best fertilizer for yams?
NPK 5:10:10 that means 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 10% potassium. NPK 5:10:10 can be used for yams farming.
This fertilizer can be applied by side dressing, top dressing or through Fertigation.
NPK 20:10:10 has 20% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 10% potassium. This type of NPK fertilizer is usually used during the vegetative stage of the yam plants. This fertilizer can be applied by side dressing, top dressing or through Fertigation.
NPK 12:12:17 fertilizer has 12% nitrogen, 12% phosphorus and 17% potassium. This fertilizer can be applied by side dressing, top dressing or through Fertigation
HOW ITS BENEFITs?
Traditional Medicinal use: Arthritis and Kidney Diseases.
Tubers contain 70–80 g water, 1.3–2.1 g protein, 0.1–0.3 g fat, 26–36 g carbohydrates (25 g starch, 1–11 g sugar), 0.2–1.5 g fibre, 0.5–1.2 g ash, 0.017 mg vitamin A, 0.08 mg vitamin B1, 0.02 mg vitamin B2, and 20.3 mg vitamin C per 100-g serving.
Plant Habitats
Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Root
Edible Uses: Root - cooked and used as a vegetable. Sweet and pleasant, with a flavour somewhat like sweet potato or chestnuts. The tubers are oval, up to 20cm long and 6 - 8cm in diameter. Each plant can produce 5 - 20 tubers. The flesh is yellow or white and the average tuber weight may be 250 - 1,000g, though larger ones can weight 3,000g
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