Description
Cassava Stem Cuttings
We sell cassava stem cuttings which are the stems from high producing and hardy cassava varieties to give you high returns from your cassava plantation. For you to plant cassava, stem cuttings are important and unavoidable inputs you will need and we assure you of the best cuttings for the job.
Preparing the soil for cassava plantation
- To develop well, cassava roots need soil that has been loosened by the hoe or plow. So till deeply, to 20 or 25 centimeters, so that the roots can get well down.
- After tilling, at the beginning of the rainy season, make mounds or ridges. This breaks up the soil and it stores up water; the roots have plenty of loose earth in which to develop.
- If fertilizers or manure are used, work them into the soil when it is tilled. Yields are high when the plant finds plenty of nourishment in the soil. Farmyard manure, compost, and green manure are the best fertilizers for cassava. If the farmer applies fertilizers and looks after his plantation well, the yield of cassava reaches 25 to 65 tons per hectare.
How to propagate cassava stem cuttings
Cassava is propagated by cuttings (by planting pieces of the stem). The roots of cassava are not used for making a new plantation, and thus all the harvest can be eaten or sold.
- To make cuttings, choose stems 2 to 4 centimeters thick, from the strongest plants which are not diseased and which have already produced tubers.
- After the harvest, tie the selected stems in bundles. Wait at least 10 days before planting them.
-Keep the bundles in a cool, dry place until planting time. But remember that the cuttings must not be made from the stems until you are ready to plant.
- Cut each stem into pieces 20 to 30 centimeters long. There should be 4 to 6 growth buds on each piece.
- To plant cassava, push into the soil the end of the piece of stem that was nearer to the ground.
- Plant the cuttings in mounds or ridges. You should plant when the soil is quite wet, after the beginning of the rainy season. Plant the cuttings either straight or slanting. Push them well into the earth, leaving only 2 or 3 buds above ground.
- Usually the rows are 1 to 1.5 meters apart, and the plants 1 meter apart. With this spacing, there are between 7 000 and 10 000 cassava plants to the hectare.
Note: The number of cuttings to the hectare varies with the region, soil, and variety.
Control of diseases
- Mosaic: Leaves of plants attacked by mosaic look as though crumpled, and show light spots. If the attack is serious, yields are sharply reduced.
Means of controlling the mosaic disease are not yet known. To avoid it, do not take cuttings from plants attacked by the disease. You can also choose varieties of cassava that have been bred for resistance to the disease.
- Rot: Rot damages the roots, especially after 10 months of leafy growth. Rot often occurs when the cassava field has been flooded for several days.
The tubers turn soft and give off an unpleasant smell; they are no longer any good for human or animal food and this means a big loss to the farmer. To avoid rot, do not plant cassava in a place that is often flooded.
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