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Crop

Yam

Roots and Tubers

Yam is the common name for edible-tubered species in the genus Dioscorea, a starchy staple across tropical and temperate regions with over 95 percent of world production concentrated in Africa. Unlike most staple crops, yam was not domesticated once: three separate species were brought into cultivation independently on three different continents, white yam (Dioscorea rotundata) in Africa, water yam (Dioscorea alata) in Asia, and cush-cush yam (Dioscorea trifida) in South America, each its own domestication event rather than one crop spreading from a single origin. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Scientific Name
Dioscorea spp., principally D. rotundata, D. alata and D. trifida 1
Crop Class
Root and Tuber 1
Domestication Region
Three independent domestications: Africa (D. rotundata), Asia (D. alata), South America (D. trifida) 1
Open Questions
Domesticated When (Circa)
Not dated in the available source 1
The source names three independent domestication events by continent but gives no dates for any of them; left unfixed rather than inventing a year.
Classification
Life Cycle
Perennial 1
Primary Use
Food 1
Connections

Associated With

Domestication of Yams, Milestones

This milestone records the domestication event of the yam crop it is directly named for.

Yam is one of IITA's founding mandate crops for sub-Saharan Africa.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Yam (Wikipedia)

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Yam (Wikipedia)

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Yam (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Yam (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • lead section, Domestication
  • lead description or Wikipedia lead (primary-uses)
    Yam is the common name for edible-tubered species in the genus Dioscorea, a starchy staple across tropical and temperate regions with over 95 percent of world production concentrated in Africa.
  • Description section
    Yams are perennial herbaceous vines native to Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
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