Yam production

Igname
Yam
Dioscorea app.

Yam is one of the leading starchy foods of the humid lands up to an altitude of 1000 meters (3,280 feet). It is rarely planted in pure stands, rather at the base of stakes or trees in mixed plantings. In the karst region of Beaumont, yellow guinea yams (igname guinée) trained on stakes are very abundant. Between Jérémie and Anse d'Hainault the vines of the greater yam (igname d'leau) and the white guinea yam (igname francais) entwine the numerous trees left standing in the fields.

The yellow guinea yam, D. cayennensis, which takes twelve months to mature, is favored where there is no dry season, whereas, the greater yam, D. alata, which ripens in ten months and the white guinea yam, D. rotundata, which ripens in eight months are the preferred yams in areas with a short dry season.

Propagation is usually by planting the top of the root; however, the whole root may be sectioned and the pieces planted. If the mature root of the yellow guinea yam is removed from beneath the vine, leaving the top of the root in the ground attached to the vine, another edible root will develop. This process may be repeated over a period of several years with the same vine. The availability of ripe yams throughout the year from this variety has earned it the name of "tout temps," whereas the other varieties which are planted between January and April are seasonal. If they are allowed to mature, only one harvest may be taken from a vine, but if they are gathered before maturity, a second crop, but no more, will develop in six months.

Yams are best for both eating and storage when they are ripe. In a cool, dry place the greater yam and the white guinea yam may be kept for months, allegedly improving in flavor with age. It was this keeping quality that made the greater yam a favored provision on slave ships.

Cous-cous, (D. trifida), a New World yam, is most esteemed for flavor. As It is not a heavy producer, the peasant gives quantity precedence over quality to grow relatively more of the other less tasty but more prolific species. On Trinidad and St. Kitts, D. trifida goes under the same name and enjoys the same reputation for excellence that it does in Haiti. How the West African] term cous cous (which is there applied to pennlsetum meal steamed over meat) became attached to an American yam, Is a mystery that the author has not solved.

An inferior watery yam with a bitter flavor, bacalao, (a variety of D. rotundata) is raised in the Grande Anse. When peasants were queried as to why they raised a yam which they obviously did not savor, the reply was, "Ou gagner grand gout, ou manger toute." If you are hungry, you eat anything. Bacalao is a heavy yielder.

The Chinese yam, igname Chine, (D. esculents) is raised in small quantities. Ordinarily yams are boiled and eaten with a sauce of meat and vegetables. They are also made into tam tam.