“…The use of molecular markers is, an accurate method of identifying genotypes at the species level and harnessing genetic diversity in yam crop ( Agre et al., 2021a ; Pachakkil et al, 2021 ). Different molecular markers, including restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) ( Terauchi et al., 1992 ), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) ( Mignouna et al., 2003 ; Mignouna et al, 2005 ), simple sequence repeat (SSR) ( Mignouna et al., 2003 ; Loko et al., 2017 ; Pachakkil et al, 2021 ), inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) ( Zhou et al., 2008 ), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) ( Mignouna et al., 2003 ), based on the use of next-generation sequencing ( Sartie et al., 2012 ; Girma et al., 2014 ; Saski et al., 2015 ; Akakpo et al., 2017 ; Agre et al., 2019 ; Bhattacharjee et al., 2020 ; Darkwa et al., 2020b ; Agre et al., 2021a ; Bakayoko et al., 2021 ) and DNA barcoding sequencing ( Girma et al., 2015 ; Ude et al., 2019 ), have been used successfully in characterizing yam diversity. The above-mentioned studies assessed the genetic diversity and possible genetic evolution of yam species; few linked the pattern of genetic diversity with its genetic merit that facilitates the identification of desirable genes/alleles addressing the current and future challenges in yam cultivation in the region.…”