ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CASSAVA >>>>>>> (funny how someone was given millions of dollar to improve the production of cassava - b/n 2003 to 2006 - that almost all farming families in Ghana grow on their farmlands, and this person failed to increase cassava production in Ghana ... but somehow he and his supporters believe he has what it takes to grow apples on the streets of Accra and turn round the sinking Ghanaian economy ... marvelously classic!!!) >>>>>>> World production of cassava root was estimated to be 184 million tonnes in 2002, rising to 230 million tonnes in 2008. The majority of production in 2002 was in Africa, where 99.1 million tonnes were grown; 51.5 million tonnes were grown in Asia; and 33.2 million tonnes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nigeria is the worlds largest producer of cassava. However, based on the statistics from the FAO of the United Nations, Thailand is the largest exporting country of dried cassava, with a total of 77% of world export in 2005. The second largest exporting country is Vietnam, with 13.6%, followed by Indonesia (5.8%) and Costa Rica (2.1%). Worldwide cassava production increased by 12.5% between 1988 and 1990. In 2010, the average yield of cassava crops worldwide was 12.5 tonnes per hectare. The most productive cassava farms in the world were in India, with a nationwide average yield of 34.8 tonnes per hectare in 2010. Cassava, yams (Dioscorea spp.) and sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are important sources of food in the tropics. The cassava plant gives the third highest yield of carbohydrates per cultivated area among crop plants, after sugarcane and sugar beets.[18] Cassava plays a particularly important role in agriculture in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, because it does well on poor soils and with low rainfall, and because it is a perennial that can be harvested as required. Its wide harvesting window allows it to act as a famine reserve and is invaluable in managing labour schedules. It offers flexibility to resource-poor farmers because it serves as either a subsistence or a cash crop. GHANA CASE No continent depends as much on root and tuber crops in feeding its population as does Africa. In the humid and subhumid areas of tropical Africa, it is either a primary staple food or a secondary costaple. In Ghana, for example, cassava and yams occupy an important position the agricultural economy and contribute about 46% of the agricultural gross domestic product. Cassava accounts for a daily caloric intake of 30% in Ghana and is grown by nearly every farming family. The importance of cassava to many Africans is epitomised in the Ewe (a language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin) name for the plant, agbeli, meaning there is life. The price of cassava has risen significantly in the last half decade, and lower-income people have turned to other carbohydrate-rich foods, such as rice. In Tamil Nadu, India, the National Highway 68 between Thalaivasal and Attur has many cassava processing factories alongside it—indicating a local abundance. Cassava is widely cultivated and eaten as a staple food in Andhra Pradesh and in Kerala. In the subtropical region of southern China, cassava is the fifth-largest crop in term of production, after rice, sweet potato, sugar cane and maize. China is also the largest export market for cassava produced in Vietnam and Thailand. Over 60% of cassava production in China is concentrated in a single province, Guangxi, averaging over 7 million tonnes annually. (courtesy ask)
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 10:55:21 +0000
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