Table 3.

Agronomic/post‐harvest characteristics of yam tubers influencing survey participants’ variety preferences in south‐east and south‐west Nigeria

Socio‐economic factors	Preferred quality characteristics (agronomic/postharvest)*	Characteristics of yam that give less preferred quality of pounded yam
Region: South‐east and south‐west Nigeria	Pre‐harvest: Fat vine, Green dense leaves, Big heavy tubers (heavy like stone or log of wood) and healthy tubers (without spots or disease or rot) Post‐harvest: Low water content (when scratched with the finger it must not bring out plenty water (‘ko gbudo sunkun’ Colour of the skin must be brown (this is the sign of a matured tuber) White yam flesh colour when peeled/scratched Smooth skin/soft hair (without spot or rot) Pest resistant Early maturity (especially women) High Storability	Level of yam tuber freshness (indicated by holes, insect infestation, rotten yam), High water content tiny tubers, poor yield, lots of deep‐rooted hair on the flesh of the tuber when peeled Flesh colour change when peeled Unappealing look; tiny tubers, shrunk tubers or woody tubers.
By gender:
Female	Early maturity, Regular shape, Big size Fresh healthy tubers, Soft hair on skin, No flesh colour change when peeling	Flesh colour change when peeling, high water content, big size of irregular shape because it is not easy to peel
Male	Low water content White flesh colour, Soft hair on the skin	Hard, high water content, flesh colour change when peeling, unappealing look (shrink, rotten, irregular shape)