Yam is cultivated in warm and humid climates. The flowers are white. Harvesting takes place 7 to 8 months post root multiplication or planting of the rhizomes (underground perennial stem).

Yam can be attacked by pests such as snails and slugs that eat the stem of the yam, when the latter is out of the ground and also by aphids that suck the sap and degrade the leaves of the plant. Subsequently these diseases cause a slower growth of the plant, which can even lead to the death of the latter. Yam is a vegetable but also a root.