Farming in the days of old has been a scarce venture to experience the involvement Farming in the days of old has been a scarce venture to experience the involvement of the mass, but with the increasing rise of technology and the prominence being gradually attached to it, farming is gaining a respectable status in the society. Farmers have made huge sums of income, nations have earned huge sums of revenue and the world market is making use of cassava day in and out.
Analyzing the huge sums of revenue from cassava farming, the question of why people aren’t venturing into it, is a question worthy to ponder on. One of the reasons discovered reveals that such farmers aren’t well equipped literally with the delight, benefit and the joy that comes along with cassava farming. Wondering which food item to produce? Cassava farming is one of the best options amongst the many. The question has always been why cassava farming?
One of the greatest worries of farmers is for their produce to be ready for the market but does not get a ready market to make sales from. Some produce takes days, weeks and ultimately a long period of time for demand to be placed on everything. This increases longevity storage cost since the produce has to be stored safely until its demand is placed on it. Unlike the others, cassava experiences one of the ready markets ever on the global market which is the joy of every farmer.
Over the years, there has been a consistent ready market for the production of cassava making it one of the most profitable businesses to invest in. This is because, most industries depend on it to get their source of income, and cassava has in exchange, gotten some benefits from this ready market. A ready market implies that there is the existence of legitimate buyers or sellers or investors who are willing to trade or own your produce and this is the first advantage every cassava producer having a ready market experience. The burden of thoughts of where to get your customers is lifted off.
Cassava is one of the many that does not have a waste in itself. From the leaves used in food preparation and medical treatments, to the roots for cassava starch, to the skin, to the main cassava food from which ethanol and other end products are gotten, cassava goes a long a way to serve as a basic ingredient in almost all the prevalent industries holding the global market together and the citizens in it. Therefore, if a farmer finds him or herself engulfed in its production, it becomes difficult for the farmer to go into extinction or not get a reasonable amount of revenue with all things being equal.
The Food Industry, the Textile and the Apparel industry, the Brewery industry, Carpentry sector, Cosmetology, Confectionaries, Food and non-food applications such as manufacturing papers, adhesives and Pharmaceuticals companies all use cassava as a major ingredient in its production. If these industries are able to fade out which is quite impossible, then cassava farming can also fade out which is also definitely quite impossible. On the second layer, if these industries are making huge sums of money from its sales then cassava farming is likely to experience a high demand resulting in the increase in revenue.
Nigeria alone was responsible for the production volume of 60 million tons in 2018. According to the chairman of the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, the cassava industry has the potential to make USD26 billion per year.
Experts have predicted the cassava starch market to reach USD 66.84 billion/11.0 million tons by 2026. As a result of the ready market, the cassava production sector keeps on growing and expanding ever year.
If cassava production keeps on expanding, then there will be the need for more cassava farmers to meet this demand consistently to also benefit of its revenue and this is the more reason farmers, organizations and the nations as a whole should indulge in cassava farming. It goes beyond increasing employment to putting smiles on the faces of these employers as their revenue conforms to the expansion of the industry, all things being equal. It has over the years served as a reliable source of income for its workers.
Aside the ready market nature, let’s find out some other reasons why cassava farming is advisable;
- Cassava requires a low input of resources and time to produce tones of it.
- Cassava is highly adaptive to climate change as it can resist high temperature and drought.
- Cassava grows fine on all kinds of soil with an exception of heavy or saturated soil. Though it gives preference to light, well drained and deep soil rich in organic nutrients makes it grow really well.
- Cassava is tolerant to high temperature as it thrives well on tropics and sub-tropical regions.
- It tolerates elongated dry seasons as well as reduced amount of rainfall.
- Cassava is very good at weed control because once the plant is around 6 t07 weeks, it before then forms canopy with its leaves, thereby, considerably dropping weed emergency. Thus, limiting cost of weeding and herbicide application.
- Also due to its hardy nature, cassava does not require irrigation facility as it can adapt and tolerate adverse weather conditions.
- Large Market or Buyer-base
- Many industries in Nigeria use cassava as a major raw material so you don’t have any trouble selling your products.
Having all this delight in mind, if the farmer is to enter into cassava farming, attaining the basic revenue at least won’t be a problem. There is joy in cassava farming; there is money, sweetness, easiness and all the good benefits a farmer will desire to get from his efforts. A step should be made towards this course to get this delight.
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