When to plant Yam in Mapai

Gaza, Moçambique

Known here as inhame

Yam is a climbing vine that grows one big food tuber underground over a long 7-11 month season.

Yam in Mapai, rain-fed and with irrigation
Fit	Favourable
When to plant	21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027 open now
Expected harvest	about 23.2 t/ha
Harvest	From 20 Jul 2026 to 27 Nov 2027, depending on the planting date
Ready to harvest	180–330 days after planting

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 1 Jan 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Mapai leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.

Planting after 1 Jan 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Mapai

Rain and temperature	96%
The soil	76%
The lie of the land	96%

For yam in Mapai, the soil is the tightest of the three at 76%. This is the one you can actually move. Lime raises a sour soil, manure and compost lift what it holds, and both work within a season or two — money spent here changes the answer.

The 2026/27 season in Mapai

Rainy seasons	One each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expected	November 2026 to March 2027
Rain in a typical year	About 429 mm
This season's rain	Leaning dry — January, February, November and December look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early.
This season's heat	Hotter than usual — about +1.9 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supports	enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this covers	One kind of ground throughout.

last updated 17 September 2026

The soil holds back about 10% of yield here.

What yam needs to grow here

Soil it likes	well-drained sandy loam or loam soil
Soil sourness (pH)	Happiest between pH 5.5 and 7.0
Spacing	100 cm between rows, 100 cm between plants
Feed it most with	nitrogen and potassium

What it takes to grow yam in Mapai

Planting material	About 10,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)	About 87 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)	About 26 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)	About 133 kg per hectare
In the shops	A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.

These are the nutrients a yam crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Late-maturing — drought risk

Grow Yam with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Mapai as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Yam in nearby districts

How to grow Yam, step by step Land preparation to harvest — every task, in order

Frequently asked questions

Will yam grow well in Mapai?

Mapai rates as favourable for yam.

When should I plant yam in Mapai?

Typically 21 Jan 2026 to 1 Jan 2027, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Mapai, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.