Cassava a big export

AN appeal is being made for farmers to grow more cassava to allow the Trinidad and Tobago Agri-Business Association (TTABA) to export ground provision throughout the Caribbean.

According to the association’s communications consultant, Marissa Findlay, who spoke at a workshop in Tableland, Princes Town, on cassava production on Tuesday, Government was starting to export ground provision to neighbouring islands, and were in need of cassava.

“We have the quantity to export, but demand is growing, so we have to get our farmers to grow more,” she said.

Findlay said cassava was a delicacy which was in high demand, especially at hotels and supermarkets.

Already, cassava is being cut into fries, wedges and made as croquets and is being juiced.

Cassava flour is also a big seller abroad, Findlay said.

At the workshop, the association displayed a range of cassava products and officials lectured to farmers on new techniques in planting cassava.

The association also noted that it intends to use a specific type of technique to burrow into the soil and destroy the pests which attack the cassava root.

Last year, the association held a similar workshop at Sevilla, Couva.