The Oyo State Chapter of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association on Thursday called on the Federal Government to help cassava growers to purchase flat drying machines.
The Chairman, Mr Muyideen Adekunle, told Food Farm News (FFN) in Lagos that flat drying machines are very critical to cassava value addition.
Adekunle said that the cost of purchasing a cassava flat dryer was about N5 million and farmers were finding it difficult to purchase the equipment.
“The country is moving towards value addition and meanwhile purchasing the needed equipment is very expensive, farmers are unable to go into processing.
“The problem is that we have no dryer. We need flat dryers and because it is very expensive costing about five to six million Naira; where will farmers get that kind of money?
“The process of adding value to cassava begins with drying,’’Adekunle said.
The chairman also said that the Federal Government had promised to provide ethanol plants for cassava processors which had not been completed.
According to him, cassava growers in Nigeria were producing cassava that would boost exportation of some finished products from cassava.
“We are currently producing enough cassava in the country.
“The High Quality Cassava Fund expects cassava growers to cultivate 29,500 hectares but the association has made up to 45,000 hectares.
“The only problem that we are having is that the government promised to give us ethanol plants where they are going to use all these cassava.
“We expect the state of cassava to improve but up till now, the companies that will be taking our cassava has yet to complete their project.
“So, the problem of cassava growers is market, which we want Federal Government to assist us because we have exceeded expectation but there is no market,’’ Adekunle said.
He pointed out that if government were to assist farmers with funds and there is no market to sell the cultivated cassava, it would create another kind of problem.
According to him, if we say government should assist us with funds, then after producing the cassava and there is no market to sell the cassava, it will be difficult to repay the loan.
Adekunle revealed that the state (Oyo) was currently in partnership with Candel Nigeria Ltd to supply chemicals for weed control.
He expressed optimism that the chemicals would be made available to smallholder cassava farmers.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture recently unveiled mechanized methods of weeding cassava plantations which, if adopted, would boost their capacity.
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