COMMERCIALIZATION OF CASSAVA WILL INCREASE PRODUCTION During the 3rd Cassava Regional Center of Excellence Review and Scientific Conference at Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala, researchers spearheading root crops, particularly the cassava, urged farmers to graduate from the peasantry to market-oriented production. The conference under the theme; “Enhancing the competitiveness of the cassava sub-sector through regional collective action in research for development,” was aimed at finding ways of improving the crop’s production in the East African region. According to Dr. Christopher Omongo, the coordinator of the programme, there is need to increase volumes of the raw material to be used by industrialists to commercialize cassava production. “Farmers are using rudimentary tools like hand hoes and ox-ploughs which may not cope (with the production volumes needed to commercialise),” he says. “We need to mechanize so as to open up more land using tractors. If they (farmers) form groups, they can acquire the needed machinery. ” Once land has been opened through mechanization, a farmer will have to advance further and use a mechanized planter which saves time and labour costs. For example, on a hectare of land, a farmer takes close to 240 hours planting manually while one with a mechanized planter able to plant one hectare within an hour. Omongo says such machinery has been acquired in Uganda which is the Regional Center for Cassava Excellence, as well as Nigeria and Zambia, with support from the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). Additionally, quality must be taken care-of through research to come up with resistant and high-yielding varieties via feedback from end users such that when the demand for quality cassava from local industries like pharmaceuticals and confectionaries, among others, is high, there is quality and quantity of the desired raw material, The last step is to make sure that the price of cassava is attractive to farmers which can be done through reduction of costs of production by encouraging mechanization and subsidisation of inputs. “Once farmers appreciate (and are proud of growing) cassava, they will increase its cultivation, leading to increased quantity and quality. If this was to happen, there will be no reason why we cannot commercialize cassava as a crop,” Omongo says. Getting quality planting materials Much as stakeholders are busy devising means of promoting cassava as a commercial crop, problems like absence of planting materials and management of pests and diseases too are being addressed through the nine research zones under the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) stations spread across the country. What happens is that whatever variety is released by researchers, it is passed on to the zonal research institutions across the country who, then, multiplies them and he farmers for planting. “This is already happening,” Omongo says. “Whatever technology is produced is passed on to research zones that are already decentralized. The zones, after multiplication, use NAADs to distribute them to farmers with the help of extension workers. ” Status of cassava production in Uganda Cassava is the second most important staple crop after bananas in Uganda, with the country being the sixth largest producer of the crop in Africa. Uganda produces between 4. 2 to 5. 5 million metric tonnes, according to a 2010 report from the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). The main cassava growing region based on production volumes as of 2008/ 9 FY, were the eastern at 37% northern (34%), western (15%) and the central region (14%). The national average cassava yield in Uganda is 12. 5 metric tons per hectare compared to 40 to 50 tons achievable in good growth conditions, according Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2012 estimates. Challenges facing cassava production According to Dr. Maxwell Otim Onapa, the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology executive secretary, cassava receives little attention from researchers during the green revolution and, instead, most researchers focus on wheat, rice and maize. Other set-backs include; Lack of good quality clean planting materials Declining productivity due to outbreaks of pests and diseases like brown streak and the cassava mosaic. Limited awareness and knowledge of the crop value chain Deteriorating soil conditions and land availability Inadequate extension service delivery to farmers Lack of credit facilities, farm inputs and incentives (pull factor- market) for investments in the cassava industry Lack of National Cassava Coordination structure to guide developments in the sub-sector, among others.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 21:42:16 +0000