Yam wholesalers who practice speculative storage sometimes suffer significant losses the level of which has been little studied. Thus, this work was carried out to study the practices and deterioration factors of 'Kponan' yam during storage. To achieve this, 51 yam wholesalers in 4 communes of Abidjan (Abobo, Adjamé, Yopougon and Treichville) were interviewed using a survey form. The data showed that according to storage practices, yams are preferentially grouped by variety (100%) and old yams separately (88.2%). Wholesalers (94.1%) regulate the storage temperature either by fans (23.5%), by air openings in the wall (25.5%), or by fans and air openings in the wall (45.1%). Decay was the most common damage among all wholesalers (100%), followed by weight loss (52.9%), mold (35.3%), injury (29.4%), cracking (23.5%), and sprouting (17.6%). Heat was the main cause of yam damage, followed by moisture (82.3%), animals (31.4%), field storage conditions (17.6%), chemical use during cultivation (17.6%) and sprouting (17.6%). This study shows that the storage and temperature control techniques employed by wholesalers are far from mitigating the heat that is the main cause of damage to 'Kponan' yam (Dioscorea Cayenenis-rotundata) during storage.
Yam "Kponan" (Dioscorea cayenensis-rotundata) is a popular staple food in Côte d'Ivoire. However, its rapid decay during conservation prevents regular supply of markets. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the impact of field cultivation and conservation practices on some physical quality parameters of "Kponan". To this end, "Kponan" yam from three production areas (Bondoukou, Bouna, Kouassi-Kouassikro) was cultivated in each area. At maturity, physical parameters of yams at harvest and after 3 months of storage in field were analyzed. The results showed that injury was the most significant deterioration in yam harvest. The rate of injured yams was highest for hoe-harvested in Kouassi-Kouassikro area (16.67% -22.22%) regardless of the origin of the cuttings. The main damage observed after the 3 months of storage was rots (22.86% -60.00%) and weight loss (8.57% -42.86%). However, yams stored in pits in Bouna zone had less damage (40% -48.87%) than those stored under straw huts in Bondoukou locality (100%) and at shade under a tree in Kouassi-Kouassikro area (100%). In conclusion, the physical quality of "Kponan" in field is most affected by abusive use of herbicides during weeding and clearing, hoe harvesting and storage in the shade under a tree.
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