Potatoes are being successfully grown through aeroponics in Eastern and Southern Africa, and the process is being studied for use in growing yams.

According to an African Farming report, commercial potato seed producers in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi and other countries have been able to grow disease-resistant potatoes — and grow them more quickly than traditional methods — using aeroponics technology rather than soil.

In aeroponic technology, plants are grown in containers without soil, usually misted with nutrient-filled water.

Yams have been identified as “forgotten” and “abandoned” crops that had fallen out of favor in Africa through the years. If they can be successfully brought back, yams may become the cornerstone for ending hunger in Africa while enabling small African farmers to produce viable income, according to the report.

A previous AFK report discussed the African Plant Breeding Academy’s efforts to bring back yam production — as well as that of other food plants that are hardy and easy to grow, even in drought conditions. The academy is training more than 200 scientists and technicians to grow these foods so they can then train small farmers.

Using aeroponics to grow food has additional benefits, according to the African Farming report. Vine rooting had at least a 95-percent success rate and much shorter rooting time with aeroponics. Seeds grown in air environments are also more likely to be free of pests and pathogens. When yams are grown in soil, they are prone to picking up the pathogens left in the soil from previous plantings and harvests.

“With this approach, we are optimistic that farmers will begin to have clean seed yams for better harvest,” said Dr. Norbert Maroya,  project manager for the Yam Improvement for Incomes and Food Security in West Africa project at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria.