Cassava production status

Two presentations were made highlighting the following about cassava production status:

(a)Optimum agro-ecological zone for cassava production in Nigeria is the savannah

(b)Weed management is critical during large scale cassava production and is the major farm operation that takes most man-days

(c)Careful choice need to be made regarding farm machinery taking into consideration the practical realities on the ground.

Cassava starch production plant

Mechanization of cassava farm operations was considered critical because of the following reasons:

the cost of labor has increased four times inreal terms in Nigeria during the last 15 years making the cost of cassava production very high.

Very few people nowadays want their family including children to provide labor on the farms. Indeed the youths are no longer interested in farming unless this is demonstrated to be profitable through the use of mechanized farm operations.

Agricultural farm labor attracts the lowest wage rate in Nigeria estimated at 500N. However oil companies in the Niger Delta pay 3500Nas daily wages.

According to this situation, mechanization of cassava production comes more and more important, especially the large scale cassava production. In order to save labor cost and increase capacity, enterprise choose to build mechanized cassava production line.