Propagation Methods of Yam (Dioscorea Species) with Special Attention to In Vitro Propagation

Abstract

Yam is a monocotyledonous plant in the genus Dioscorea. It is a multi-species tuber crop cultivated in Africa, Asia and parts of South America. Yam is an important crop in South and Southwestern parts of Ethiopia. Many species of Dioscorea genus are economically important crops and many of them have been used in the pharmaceutical industry. Yam is propagated from seed tubers or sections of tuber and corms. Seed tubers are expensive, bulky to transport and the multiplication rate in the field is very low. Shortage of seed tubers for planting is one of the major constraints for yam production in Ethiopia. To overcome such problems and to increase production, different propagation methods have been implemented for many Dioscorea species. Convectional and In vitro propagation of Dioscorea species pave the way to meet the demand of this economically important plant. The protocols are designed to provide the optimal levels of mineral nutrients, environmental factors, vitamins and carbohydrates to achieve the high regeneration rate of the different species of Dioscorea in vitro. This review summarizes some of the important reports on different propagation technique of Dioscorea from the literature data.