Yam Prices in 2020, Yield per Mu, Planting Prospects and Cultivation Techniques

Yam, also known as Chinese yam, tushu, shanshuyu, huai yam, Huaishan, and white yam, can be used both as medicine and as food. So what is the price in 2020? What is the yield per mu? What are the planting prospects? According to the Changsha Mawangdui vegetable wholesale market, iron stick yam is about 10 yuan per jin (market catty), while ordinary yam is about six or seven yuan per jin.

Yam Prices

The table below shows yam price trends in some areas of Hunan Province:

What is the yam yield per mu?

Yam requires about four thousand plants per mu. Generally, each meter of a double row needs 9-10 plants. With good growth, the yield is 3000-5000 kg per mu.

What are the prospects for yam cultivation?

Yam currently has very good prospects on the market, but during cultivation, improper fertilizer and water management can easily cause waterlogging or drought; because nutrients cannot be supplied over the long term, yam yields can be severely reduced. Since yam is a deep-planted crop, cultivation areas should choose sandy soil with deep soil layers, good drainage, and loose fertility. Yam likes warmth and tolerates cold. Therefore, when choosing to plant yam in 2018, yam cultivation management should be strengthened to improve yam quality.

Planting cost: seedlings cost about 4 yuan per jin, and one mu needs about 250 jin, planting about 2300 plants; if using yam beans, one mu needs about 80 jin, also priced at about 4 yuan per jin.

Planting income: yam average yield per mu reaches 3000 kg, with total output reaching 1098 tons. The yam market wholesale price is 6 yuan/kg. After deducting total costs, net income per mu can reach 9400 yuan-10000 yuan. If cold-stored until April-May of next year for market release, net income per mu can be increased further.

Appendix: Yam Cultivation Techniques

1. Variety selection

At present, the main yam varieties cultivated are three: fine-haired long yam, ermao yam, and Japanese yam. Fine-haired long yam and ermao yam both belong to the long cylindrical variant of common yam. Japanese yam is a variety with strong adaptability, good quality, high yield, and promising development potential.

2. Soil selection and trench digging

For planting yam, sandy loam or light loam that is fertile, loose, and convenient for irrigation and drainage should be selected. Saline-alkali and clay soils are taboo, and the soil profile should be uniform and consistent, with no clay, sand particles, or other interlayers within at least a 1-1.2 m soil layer.

3. Preparation of seedlings

There are 3 methods for preparing seedlings: first, using the yam head, taking a node of the tuber with buds, about 20-40 cm long; second, using cut yam sections, cutting the tuber into sections of 8-10 cm; third, using yam bulbils.

4. Bed preparation and moisture irrigation

Pound the soil dug out from the yam trench layer by layer, pick out bricks and stones, then backfill to make a trench bed 10 cm below the ground surface, leaving only the cultivated-layer matured soil for covering during planting. After the trench bed is made, it should first be leveled and then irrigated; after the water infiltrates, planting can begin.

5. Planting method

Yam planting varies with climate conditions in different places. Generally, planting can begin when the soil temperature at 5 cm below the surface stably exceeds 9-10°C. Where conditions permit, plastic film mulching can also be used.

6. Harvest

Yam stems and leaves will wither and die when they encounter frost. The normal harvest period is generally around the Frost's Descent solar term, and bulbils are generally harvested 30 days earlier than tubers.