The industrial processing of cassava in Nigeria holds much potential for successful investment. Its potential is very diverse (see: potentials. The crop is increasingly attracting attention of serious business people and processing businesses are slowly starting to spring-up all over the country. You also know how useful cassava is to Nigerians in general in terms of consumption. Cassava forms the major part of our daily foods. Almost no family can survive a whole year without cassava related foods.
If you are ready, here are what you need to start your own cassava farming.
Selecting Site For Your Cassava Farming
For Cassava plantation, it is important to choose an accessible well-drained fertile soil. You can take sample of the soil where you want to start your cassava farming to the IITA to help determine whether the soil is suitable for high yield cassava variety.
While most forest lands within the South West are known to be very fertile for cassava farming, it is important to further verify in other to be sure of your investment.
Decide On Cassava Varieties
For good cassava production, the following varieties are recommended for their high yield and processing quality: TMS 30572, NR 8082, NR8083, TMS 4(2) 1425, TMS 81/00110, TMS 92/0326. An additional 10 varieties are in the process of being released. Check from the cassava production specialists in Ibadan
Land Preparation And Planting
A total herbicide – Round up (a glyphosate) should be applied to the land where you want to plant your cassava at the rate of 4–5 l/ha 10 days before land preparation. For cost effectiveness and optimum plant population of your cassava , mechanization and planting on ridges are recommended.
Liming
It is recommended that 5 (50 kg) bags of agricultural lime be applied /ha during land preparation.
Planting and planting material
- Cassava Planting starts in April and can be extended to October.
- The quantity of cassava recommended for 1 ha is 60 bundles of cassava stem.
- Cassava Stem cuttings 25 cm long should be planted at a spacing of 1 m x 1 m.
- Maintain 100% cassava planting rate by replacing dead or nonviable stems.
Post-planting weed control
Where a total herbicide was not used before land preparation for cassava plantation, it is recommended that a selective pre-emergence herbicide be applied within three days after planting. Five liters of Primextra is recommended /ha.
Fertilizer Use, Type And Rate
The following fertilizers and their rate/ha are recommended
- NPK 15:15:15–12 (50 kg) bags
• NPK 20:10:10–9 (50 kg) bags
• NPK 12:12:17–15 (50 kg) bags
Apply fertilizer at 8 weeks after planting your cassava. Apply fertilizer in a ring, 6 cm wide and 10 cm from the plant or broadcast with care around the cassava plant, making sure the fertilizer does not touch the cassava stem or leaves.
Yield
Cassava Yield of 25 t/ha and above can be obtained with good agronomic practices and management.
Therefore, every step must be taken seriously in the process of planting your cassava.
Note
To reduce cost of production and attain high yields, it is recommended that land preparation be fully
mechanized. A power tiller can be used if the total land area under cultivation is not more than 250ha
Cassava Production Like This Will Make You Millions of Naira
Production cost for one hectare of cassava
Land preparation ……………………………………………………… N10,000.00
Cassava cuttings (60 bundles @ N300/bundle) ………………N18,000.00
Planting (4 person at N1000/pd) …………………………………..N4,000.00
Pre-emergence herbicides (5 liters at N1000/l) ………………..N5,000.00
Fertilizer (20:10:10, 9 bags at N2500/bag) ……………………..N22,000.00
Insecticides (2 liters at N1000/l) ……………………………………N3,000.00
Application of herbicide ……………………………………………….N3,000.00
Application of insecticide ………………………………………………N 3,000.00
Application of fertilizer (4 persons at N1,000/pd) ……………..N4,000.00
One weeding (10 person at N1,000/pd) …. ……………………..N10,000.00
Harvesting (15 person at N1,500/pd). …………………………….N17,500.00
Total ……………………………………………………………………….. N100,000.00
Farm Labor Wage Rates Vary By Location.
Note: Fixed capital investments are not included. Such capital investments include knapsack or boom sprayers, tractors or power tillers, stem cutters, planters, and harvesters. With planters and harvesters, manual labor use can be minimized.
This is one of the business you can access very quickly and easily to, why not take advantage now and free style to the bank.
Cassava flour in a very important ingredient in profitable production of bread. In the year 2001 Nigerian president was a farmer so had a first hand knowledge of what problems farmers were facing and the fact that Nigerian government was spending huge amount of money on wheat which is used to produce bread and some other confectioneries.
The government directed Federal Institute of Industrial Research to find ways of including local raw materials in the production of bread. The outcome of the research is that cassava flour can be mixed with wheat at up to 10% without any adverse effect on the taste and texture of the product.
Cassava flour is not elubo lafun the staple food of Egbas in Ogun state. The difference between the two is that the cassava for producing flour should be harvested and processed in the same day. The important point in this is that there should be no fermentation of the cassava at all. But the cassava processing to elubu must be fermented for at least three days.
Step 1: Harvest matured cassava from the farm and load it to the processing shed immediately. If the quantity of cassava harvested can not be carried in the same day for logistic reasons do not detach the cassava from the stem and leaf until the vehicle to carry it is ready. That is to say fermentation will not occur if the cassava is still attached to the leaf and stem even if it has been uprooted. But care must be taken not to bruise the cassava when uprooting it.
Step 2: Peel the cassava and wash it in clean water.
Step 3: Grind the cassava with grating machine.
Step 4: Press the grated cassava with screw jack or hydraulic jack. The pressing is very technical and very important. The moisture level of the cassava should be reduced to below 20%. The process from harvesting to pressing must be under 24 hours. If not the product has turned to elubo and may not be good foe baking. After pressing to below 20% moisture level fermentation is completely halted. The next stage is drying.
Step 5: Dry to moisture level of below 14% The drier the product the longer the storage life or the shelf life. The moisture level is the most important quality which will be examined at the point of sales. If properly processed as narrated above the colour of the product is snow white.
Drying could be by sun drying if the quantity is not much or if the period is dry season when there is no possibility of sudden rainfall. The ideal method of drying is the industrial dryer. Some industrial dryers are capable of handling up to 10 tons per day. If the processing is during rainy season the best alternative is the industrial dryer. They charge their fee per ton.
Step 6: Bag into baggco sacs of 50kg and send to the point of sales.
Cost Analysis.
- Price of 3 tons truck of raw cassava at Ifo is N60,000 to the processing shed.
- Cost of peeling N3,000 Naira for the three tons.
- Cost of pressing N3,000 Naira for the three tons
- Transportation to dryer at Itori N2,000 Naira the quantity of the material reduces almost by 50% after pressing.
At the drying center the product will be tested and weighed in. The moisture level recorded. The will be dried and sold at the drying center there to merchants who process the LPO to supply to the flour mills or bakers. The three tons of cassava is to yield minimum of 1.5 tons of flour.
A ton of flour is N70,000 Naira 1.5 tons will yield N105,000 Naira less expenses of not more than N80,000 Naira entrepreneur has a balance of N25,000 on each truck of cassava bought. It is more profitable for a cassava farmer to process his cassava to this point if there is labor to accomplish.
This is Written for WealthResult.com by Adams ‘ElyJay’ Odurinde who is a farmer and a blogger. His experience of farming span several decades, he recently combine his love for farming with his love of writing to share his farming experience with others.
- The Cassava tuber as food – A cassava tuber variety could be cooked and enjoyed with varieties of stews also, it could be pounded and enjoyed like the usual pounded yam. But not all variety of cassava can be eaten that way as many are known to be highly toxic when eaten in such form.
- Garri – This form of cassava food is processed by grinding and squeezing out the starchy content. The residue is left for three day to ferment (Ijebu Garri) thereafter, it is fried with into sand-like grains and the quality is determined by the dryness. That is, the drier the better. Other types like the popular Bendel Garri is fried immediately after grinding and squeezing out the water without leaving it to ferment.
- Fufu – Fufu is obtained by soaking the tuber into water for between four to five day to get it softened, then manually remove the chaff. The Cassava preparation follows similar process to garri but instead of frying, it is cooked and pounded into a pulp of various hardness and eaten with Nigerian soups such as the popular Igbo’s Egusi soup.
- Amala – Cassava is processed into amala first by cutting it into pieces, soak it for two or three days, drying and grinding it into flour, the flour is then prepared similar to fufu and enjoyed with the popular Yoruba’s Ewedu soup.
- Starch – The startch is usually a by-product in the garri process. Apart from being useful in other domestic application the cassava starch is a favorite food among the Urhobo people of Delta State. And they eat it just like Amala and Garri.
- Abacha – This is obtained by boiling the cassava tuber, peel off the back and cut the remaining into tiny pieces. Thereafter, it is soaked in a clean water over the night to get the starch out, the slippy deposit is washed off the actual food which then cooked as a local salad.
- Vegetable – The cassava leafs is used to prepare vegetable soup by some in Nigeria. However, it must be cooked properly to detoxify before eating.
- 8. Cassava Bread – Recently, the baked version of the cassava foods was introduced into the Nigerian cassava food staples and people are having fun with it. So baking is another way that cassava in now eaten in Nigeria.
These are the reasons why Cassava crops production is a money spinner in Nigeria which smart investors can take advantage of and make million.
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