This is the Study 1 of the project "Development of a Technology to Increase the Productivity of the Less-Known Yam Species".

On the collection/assembly of materials, different accessions, both native and exotic, will be identified, collected, and maintained on station. To establish the authenticity of each material collected and avoid duplication, characterization will be undertaken using the Descriptor for Yam. Afterwhich, collected materials will be multiplied for use in the replicated trial in the selection of promising accession.

For the on-station evaluation for yield and acceptability, collected accessions will be evaluated in a replicated trial on-station to select those which are promising and could be evaluated in advanced trial (on-farm or multi-location). Selection will be based on the growth and yield performance of each accession, as well as its acceptability to consumers. To do this, organoleptic evaluation will be conducted wherein, a panel of evaluators will be invited to evaluate the different accessions in terms of color, texture, flavor and general acceptability. The procedure will be based on the Standardized Techniques for Rootcrops Evaluation set by the Rootcrops Varietal Improvement Group of the National Seed Industry Council.

For the on-farm evaluation of promising accessions part, to further test the adaptability of the identified promising accession in a wider range of environmental conditions, on-farm evaluation will be conducted in at least two locations. Marginal lands in areas where tugui and kamangeg are grown/or is growing will be given priority as site of the on-farm trials. 

For the on-station and on-farm trials, the experiment will be laid-out following the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Each accession will be randomly distributed in each plot.