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· National
Agric Seed Council to set standard, certify seeds
Prices of
cassava stems have nosedived to N400 per bundle after touching a high of N1200
as demand eases in Nigeria.
Last year
and earlier in 2017, prices of cassava roots and its derivatives such as garri
climbed to an all-time high as demand outstripped supply.
Researchers
are still expecting data on demand and supply from the National Bureau of
Statistics, but cassava roots moved from N13,000 per metric ton to about
N40,000, according to local buyers.
Cassava is
an important crop in Nigeria and the roots are processed to starch, ethanol,
flour and garri—a staple. Other uses include akpu, and lafun. In some
communities, the root is boiled and eaten directly.
In 2014,
about seven million hectares was planted with cassava, according to the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Most of the
varieties planted to cover this hectarage were from the informal sector, says
Dr Peter Kulakow, Cassava Breeder with IITA who is also working on the cassava
seed systems project.
The Nigerian
cassava seed system is not well structured, an arrangement that the
project—Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Seed System for Cassava
(BASICS) is trying to correct.
Farmers
usually obtain planting materials from previous fields, cut them in lengths of
about a meter and tie them into bundles comprising 50 stems each and sell.
Certification
from regulators is still rare but the Nigerian Agricultural Seed Council (NASC)
is working with BASICS to set standards and begin the certification of cassava
planting materials.
A
farmer, Monsurat Kassim, is one of those
selling cassava stems in South West Nigeria through the informal channel.
In an
interview with Cassava Matters, she said there has been more demand for cassava
stems than the previous years.
“More people
are buying the stems this year than they did last year… I think the rise in
price of cassava products is part of the motivation,” she explained.
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