Yam farmers face disease threat

WESTERN BUREAU:

Negro yam farmers in Manchester are currently on edge as suspected cases of yam rust disease pose severe threats to their yield.

According to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, local farmers have reported atypical symptoms affecting the leaves of their yam plants.

“These include unusual spots on leaves, which may be attended by a general plant decline, which could potentially impact crop yields,” the ministry said.

“The ministry, through collaborative efforts with its agencies, the Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspection (PQ/PI) Branch and the Research and Development Division (R&DD), the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and other key stakeholders, is currently conducting a thorough investigation to determine the nature and extent of these conditions.”

Yam rust, also known as Goplana dioscorea and Goplana australis, is reportedly caused by a fungal pathogen. Research has indicated that its symptoms include yellow spots or pustules on upper leaf surfaces.

In January, St Lucia’s Ministry of Agriculture alerted farmers that the plant disease had been identified in several species of yam on that island. The ministry went on to advise that farmers refrain from relocating planting materials as a means of containing and controlling the spread of the disease.

In the meantime, Lenworth Fulton, president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), told The Sunday Gleaner that the country’s negro yams have “never been affected by this before”.

However, Fulton pointed out that the suspected fungus had previously affected other species of yams locally.

“There is a problem with negro yam, which has never happened before. This disease that affects yam leaves is quite common in the soft yam and sweet yam family, and it is treatable with a fungicide. What is puzzling is that this fungus does not show up itself well in very hot weather, which is the case now with the negro yam.”

Fulton said that extensive work is being carried out by RADA and other stakeholders to control the spread of the disease locally. He told The Sunday Gleaner that farmers in Manchester have been mostly affected so far.

Trelawny, which is known for its yam yield, has been spared as there are no reports of the disease in the parish, Fulton said.

“I do know that the RADA team is out in the field from last week collecting samples to test and find out what is the pathogen before they can recommend treatment to the farmers. So we are starting to have it under control, and we will give advice to the farmers through the extension services as to whether they should use a contact fungicide, but we know of the problem, and we are on top of it.

“It has not been prevalent in the Trelawny yam belt.”

Steve Warren, former deputy mayor of Trelawny, businessman, and farmer, also shared that he was unaware of the fungus affecting farmers in the Wait-A-Bit and Litchfield areas.

“The negro yam disease that we are hearing about, we don’t have that problem here in this area. We have heard about it in different areas. We actually have more yellow yam than negro yam in this area.”

In the meantime, over in Christiana, Manchester, yam farmer Calvin Campbell is worried that approximately 400 hills of his yams will become victim to the fungus. Campbell said that over the last two weeks, he has recognised a high level of abnormality in his yam leaves.

“The leaves have yellow spots all over them, and it has started to affect the yam because the leaves start shedding, and some of them have started to die.

“It is even affecting young yams that are far from being ready for reaping. Yams that have just started to bear. I have over 400 hills of yam, and about 40 per cent of them have been affected so far because they are planted in different sections, to be reaped at different times,” Campbell explained.

When asked how he saw this affecting his business, Campbell noted that not only would the fungus decrease the quantity of yams produced locally, but the quality of product would also drop.

“If the yams should die or don’t bear the quality food that is expected, then you are going to lose a whole lot. Whatever you put in is going to go down the drain. Financially, we are going to suffer because we have spent a lot of money with the initial preparation.”

Additionally, Campbell said that the yam export market may also suffer as farmers in Manchester are struggling to keep their produce alive.

“We sell to the export market and the local market. This disease is going to affect not only the local market, but also the export market because if we don’t have the quality yam for export, then it simply means that they are not going to get the required amount, and their quota is going to be affected.

“Whichever way you take it, we are going to end up at a loss.”

Similarly, Bryan Reid, a yam farmer in Chudleigh, Manchester, said he was looking at an approximately $500,000 loss. Reid, while guiding The Sunday Gleaner around his affected farm on Thursday, shared that he, too, had noticed the yellow spots on the leaves of his yam plants.

The negro yam leaves in an entire section of Reid’s farm have started to rot, and he also pointed to some leaves on yellow yam plants that were starting to rust. Reid further stated that the affected section would no longer bear fruit as the plants had died.

The farmer, who shared that he also exported his produce, is worried that the suspected disease may affect the more than 22,000 hills of yam across his farm.

“Mi think mi a go lose, enuh because if the leaves start dry up then the yams nah go bear. I saw one and two of my yellow yams a spot, too, so mi just a watch and see.”

“Mi a think say mi coulda spray dem, but mi not even know what fi do.”

Responding to queries about the magnitude of his loss, Reid told The Sunday Gleaner that he purchased $400,000 worth of yam heads to replant and six bags of fertiliser at a cost of $10,500 per bag.

At the same time, another yam farmer, Clifford Gayle, bemoaned that the parish’s negro yam yield was diminishing as his efforts to replace his affected field had been unsuccessful. Gayle, whose yam farm neighbours Reid’s, told The Sunday Gleaner that he was uncertain about his summer yield.

“Mi nuh know wah kind of disease tek it, but mi just see the yam leaves dem start yellow up. Those yams cannot plant back, so we will have to start fresh again and buy different heads to replant. Mi might cya go plant negro yam for now because nobody nuh have any yam heads to sell.

“Everybody’s yam a dead.”

rochelle.clayton@gleanerjm.com