ABSTRACT

Cassava is grown in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In Africa and much of Latin America cassava is used mainly for direct human consumption, after boiling or processing. In Asia cassava has now become more of an industrial crop that is processed into a wide array of products, such as starch and many starch-derived products, modified starch, animal feed and bio-ethanol. Moreover, due to very high population pressure in Asia, the crop is grown mostly by smallholder farmers on very small plots of land and is often grown in the same field year after year. As a consequence, cassava production increases have to be achieved mainly by increasing yields rather than through area expansion. Obtaining high yields requires very careful crop and soil management to prevent soil degradation caused by nutrient depletion and erosion.