China plans to import cassava

The project – which is also set to include a processing factory – aims to produce 150,000 tonnes of cassava per year, largely for export to the People’s Republic of China.

“We hope the project will be successful, which can create a new market for farmers to sell their products and to earn more income for the national economy,” he said.

Cassava is often used in ethanol production. Yields on Khaou Chuly Development Company were targeted at 30 tonnes of cassava per hectare per year.

Construction of the production facility was slated to begin near to the end of this year.

While production of the crop now generally occurs in the Kingdom’s western provinces, Khaou Phallaboth also said there was plenty of land available in the northern reaches of Cambodia.

The land, he said, had strong potential for high yields.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery undersecretary of state Kit Seng said that cassava production often produced high yields, but added planting for the long term could damage the quality of the soil.

Still, he said the Agriculture Ministry supported cassava production – especially as it was a priority crop, with companies receiving encouragement from the government to grow.

In December, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced an agreement with China aimed at increasing cassava exports to Asia’s largest economy.

Ministry of Agriculture figures show that cassava was grown on 200,821 hectares of land for the 2010 to 2011 harvest season, an increase of 40,495 hectares from the previous season.

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Biotechnology to help speed up cassava breed

Breeding new plant varieties via conventional methods usually takes more than a decade, but with the assistance of biotechnology, the Thai Tapioca Development Institute (TTDI) hopes using a DNA fingerprint will shorten the time for cassava strain development and result in new varieties for specific uses.

A DNA fingerprint will be applied to match different cassava varieties with desired characteristics before selected varieties are crossbred in the field to see the actual result of the new variety.

Conventional methods entail repetitive crossbreeding of one variety with many others until a satisfactory trait results. The new process can be tested on a computer first to rule out crossbreeds that will bring about unsatisfactory outcomes, leaving only the breeding of carefully selected varieties.

The TTDI is now developing a waxy starch in cooperation with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, whose scientists have succeeded in deriving a mutant strain with the waxy or amylose-free trait.

This waxy mutant will be crossbred with commercial local varieties to develop waxy tapioca.

Adul Vinaiphat, the institute's vice-president, said waxy tapioca will have much higher value than the regular kind, as waxy starch is in demand by several industries and cannot be substituted by modified starch derived from normal tapioca.

The TTDI expects waxy tapioca to be ready for commercial planting within the next three years. Meanwhile, it must figure out how to protect the expected new plant variety through patent registration to ensure maximum benefit for cassava planters.

"If planters have to pay a high price for their cassava trunks, they'll be in trouble, so we must figure out how to handle this without causing them problems. At the same time, we'll have to find ways to control the smuggling of new varieties to neighbouring countries," said Suthiporn Chirapanda, an adviser to the TTDI.

Searching for high-value varieties is a sustainable solution for the development of the local tapioca industry, which involves some 400,000 households, he said.

Due to an infestation of pink cassava mealybugs for almost two years now, production of fresh cassava roots is estimated at only 21 million tonnes, while demand stands at 30 million tonnes. That means cassava will most likely stay above three baht a kilogramme this year.

Mr Adul said price problems will not plague planters this year, but industry may be worried about quality, as some planters may dig up their cassava roots too early - at about six months instead of the usual nine months.

Roots that are too young contain a low percentage of starch.

This practice may also cause quality issues for the next crop, as planters may not have strong cassava trunks for crop expansion.

Therefore, the institute recommends that planters keep some of their roots in the ground until measurement for use in breeding the next crop.

Yet another potential problem is adulterated tapioca chips from small factories popping up to compete in buying cassava roots from planters, said Mr Adul.

The substandard chips will result in low-quality starch and higher costs for flour factories.

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Giant sweet cassava

Jamaica, Valerie Martin, vice principal and 4H co-ordinator at Port Antonio Primary School, shows of this giant sweet cassava reaped from the 4H garden at the back of the school last Friday morning.

Martin said this was the first time they had reaped a sweet cassava this size and that it was only a portion of the plant that was dug up over the Christmas holidays.

She said they will use the cassava to make bammies, starch and dumplings as they demonstrate its various uses to the 4H students.


The cassava is three feet, eight inches tall and weighs about 30 pounds.

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