Dr. Muhammed Umar, the Permanent Secretary in the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmen, represented by Mr Ayodeji Bobby, Head of Tuber Crops in the ministry...said that Nigeria remained the largest producer of cassava, adding that a total of 36.8 million matric tonnes of cassava were harvested from 3.13 million hectares in 2013.
He said that this was with an average yield of 11.7 tonnes per hectare, adding that this, however, accounted for an insignificant fraction of global value-addition of cassava.
“But because of the Federal Government support through the change agenda of the government raised the production to about 54 million metric tonnes at 15 tonnes per hectare and develop efficient value-added chains.’’
Umar said that this was for high-quality cassava flour, dried chips; starch and sweeteners; ethanol and traditional foods.
Dr Afred Dixon, IITA Director for Development and Delivery said that Nigeria’s cassava annual production was above 50 million tonnes, adding that the increased from 35 million tonnes in the early 90s was not by accident.
He said that this resulted from stakeholders in research development to all other aspects of cassava value chains such as processing, mechanisation, and markets.
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July 19, 2019
Nigeria's Average Cassava Yield Rises From 11.7 To 15 Tonnes Per Hectare
Categories cassava, Nigeria, productivity
