IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v10y2020i11p560-d447994.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Floral Biology and Pollination Efficiency in Yam ( Dioscorea spp.)

Author

Listed:
  • Jean M. Mondo

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan 5320, Nigeria
    Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, Pan African University, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200284, Nigeria
    Department of Crop Production, Université Evangélique en Afrique (UEA), Bukavu 3323, Congo)

  • Paterne A. Agre

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan 5320, Nigeria)

  • Alex Edemodu

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan 5320, Nigeria)

  • Patrick Adebola

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Abuja 901101, Nigeria)

  • Robert Asiedu

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan 5320, Nigeria)

  • Malachy O. Akoroda

    (Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200284, Nigeria)

  • Asrat Asfaw

    (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan 5320, Nigeria)

Abstract

Yam ( Dioscorea spp.) is a monocotyledonous herbaceous vine cultivated for its starchy underground or aerial tubers in the tropics and subtropics. It is an allogamous and polyploid species that reproduces by both sexual and asexual mechanisms. However, many of the landrace cultivars, including most of the popular varieties, reproduce exclusively by vegetative propagation (planting the tubers). These varieties are either sterile or produce sparse and irregular flowering with high flower abortion rate, low fruit and seed set. Production of crossbreed seeds for genetic improvement and for maintaining genetic diversity in yams is, therefore, mainly achieved through natural or managed pollination. Flowering in yam is mostly dioecious and, in some instances, monoecious. Flowering asynchrony, sticky nature of the pollen grains, and cross incompatibility are among the challenges in making genetic progress in yam breeding. There are many limitations in basic and applied knowledge of yam flower biology and pollination. This paper, therefore, reviews the flowering biology, pollination, and methods of improving pollination efficiency in yam breeding programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean M. Mondo & Paterne A. Agre & Alex Edemodu & Patrick Adebola & Robert Asiedu & Malachy O. Akoroda & Asrat Asfaw, 2020. "Floral Biology and Pollination Efficiency in Yam ( Dioscorea spp.)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:11:p:560-:d:447994
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/11/560/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/11/560/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rong Zeng & Wensheng Fang & Xinshen Li & Shuijin Huang & Xi Wang & Qingyou Zhou & Qiuxia Wang & Aocheng Cao & Yang Sun & Juling Hua, 2022. "Uniform Root Layer Application at Optimal Timing Can Effectively Improve Root-Knot Nematode Disease Control in Rui Yam," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-13, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:10:y:2020:i:11:p:560-:d:447994. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.