Increase Cassava Production, VC Advises FG

• Increase Cassava Production, VC Advises FG

The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof Felix Salako, has advised the Federal Government to increase cassava production in order to meet the growing local and international demand for Nigerian cassava.

He noted that the crop’s yield per hectare could be increased through the deployment of appropriate agronomic practices by farmers and other stakeholders along the cassava value chain.

The university don spoke on the sidelines of the cassava technology conference held in Lagos on Wednesday.

Salako argued that even though Nigeria prided itself on being the largest producer of cassava in the world, the product yield per hectare still remained low.

He pointed out that there was an urgent need to increase the national average yield of cassava from less than 12 tonnes per hectare to about 50 tonnes.

He said, “The way to balance the need for local consumption and export is to have appropriate agronomic practices that will ensure an increase in the yield of cassava crop. National average yield per hectare is not up to 12 tonnes. We need to increase the yield to up to 50 tonnes per hectare.”