How to Start a cassava farm

Cassava grows well in many parts of West Africa like Ghana, Senegal, Benin Republic, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The Brazilians are additionally know for cassava cultivating which they use for Tapioca generation.
The yield of the crop is increasingly attracting attention of serious business people. And processing businesses of cassava are slowly starting to spring-up all over the country.

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Cassava can be processed into various items, for example, starch, flour, chips, ethanol and glucose syrup, and bread to give some examples. These items are all popular locally and furthermore have huge fare conceivable outcomes.

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The steps to start up cassava farming in Nigeria are as follows

Site selection for the cassava farm

For Cassava plantation, it is of great importance to pick an available well drained fertile soil. 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 the cassava variety to be cultivated

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.

Preparation of land and planting

A total herbicide – (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

1. Cassava Planting starts in April and can be extended to October.

2. The quantity of cassava recommended for 1 ha is 60 bundles of cassava stem.

3. Cassava Stem cuttings 25 cm long should be planted at a spacing of 1 m x 1 m.

4. Maintain 100% cassava planting rate by replacing dead or nonviable stems.
   Post-planting weed control

4. Types Of Fertilizer To Use

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.

Cost of starting a cassava plantation

For a hectare of land, the production cost is stated below,
As at the time of writing this post, 1 steem is equivalent to #1000

Land preparation 10 steem

Cassava cutting (60 at 250 per bundle) 15 steem

planting ( 5 persons at N1000 each) 5 steem

Pre-emergence herbicides (5 liters at N1000/l) 5 steem

Fertilizer (20:10:10, 9 bags at N2500/bags) 22 steem

Insecticides (2 liters at N1000/l) 2 steem

Application of herbicide 3 steem

Application of insecticide 3 steem

Application of fertilizer (4 persons at N1,000/pd) 4 steem

One weeding (10 person at N1,000/pd) 10 steem

Harvesting (15 person at N1,000/pd) 15 steem

Total 94 steem which is equivalent to N94,0000