FAO puts millions into cassava production
published:
Tuesday | July 29, 2008
Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter
Tufton
LOCAL CASSAVA production has been boosted with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) investing some US$250,000 (J$18 million) specifically for the production of the root crop through an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Dr Dunstan Campbell, FAO representative to Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize, said the world body was encouraging the production of the staple within poor countries to help protect food and energy security, threatened by soaring food and oil prices.
"We are supporting the production of cassava for food and agro-processing," said Campbell.
Irish and sweet potatoes to benefit
The initiative between the FAO and the ministry will be formalised with a signing agreement at the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show, scheduled for this weekend in Clarendon.
Campbell said a substantial amount of the funding would go towards cassava production, while the cultivation of Irish and sweet potatoes would also be boosted by the assistance.
Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has been rapped for his drive to boost cassava production, in conjunction with other staples, as a means of decreasing the number of food imports for animal feed and consumption.
Thus far, some 100 acres of cassava have been planted in Spanish Town, St Catherine, facilitated by the ministry, since Tufton announced the project in April during his contribution to the 2008-2009 Budget Debate.
Planting to start soon
Dean Passard, project coordinator for the Cassava Industrialisation Development Initia-tive (CIDI), said planting was soon to commence on 200 acres at Amity Hall in the parish.
"We are staggering the planting, so everything is not reaped at once," said Passard.
The CIDI coordinator said the FAO assistance would aid in allocating agricultural inputs needed for the cultivation of cassava, such as fertiliser, planting material and herbicides.
"That's what that money is earmarked for," said Passard.
Last week, cassava scientists, the Global Cassava Partnership, conducted a worldwide conference in Ghent, Belgium, under the guidance of FAO Global Cassava Development Strategy.
FAO reported that the scientists called for a significant increase in investment in research and development to boost farmers' yields and explore promising industrial uses of cassava, including production of biofuels.
shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com
FAO cassava report
The following are FAO reports on cassava production and consumption:
Cassava is widely grown in tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Cassava is the developing world's fourth-most important crop, with production in 2006 estimated at 226 million tonnes.
It is the staple food of nearly a billion people in 105 countries.
Cassava is also the cheapest known source of starch, and used in more than 300 industrial products.
