ABSTRACT
Many commercial farmers use good-quality planting materials to grow healthy plants and obtain high yields. Planting materials derived from the mother plants that are between 8 and 18 months old, and have about 1-2 cm diameter stems result in better germination and produce better yields. In monoculture cassava systems, the distances between rows vary from 80 to 120 cm, and the distances between plants in the row from 60 to 120 cm. The appropriate distances between rows and between plants will vary according to the soil’s fertility status, the branching habit of the variety, climatic conditions, and whether the crop is grown in monoculture or intercropping systems. Plant density of about 12 000 plants per ha (90 x 90 cm) of a semi-branched variety provided the highest yield with well-fertilized soil and favourable climatic conditions, but plant population of 18 000 plants per ha (75 x 75 cm) of the non-branching variety provided highest yields with well-fertilized soil in India. Three different locations in Thailand reported that the highest yields were obtained with spacing of about 15 000 plants per ha (100 x 66 cm) with two different cassava varieties (Tongglum, et al., 1987).
