CropStraightforward
Cassava
Manihot esculenta Crantz.
Temperature
20°C to 29°C
Rainfall
1104mm to 1850mm per season
Conditions
What it needs
Soil
Light, well-drained sandy loam. Tolerates poor and acidic soils better than most crops.
Water
Drought tolerant once established. Needs reliable moisture in the first three months while roots form.
What you will need
Tick what you already have; Grow carries the rest into the cost working.
Grow holds no supplier listings and no local prices, so it cannot tell you where to buy these or what they cost near you. Ask at your nearest agrodealer or extension office, then put those figures into the planner.
Through the season
Stages
- 01
Land preparation
21 days- Clear and ridge or mound
- Incorporate organic matter
- 02
Planting
5 days- Select healthy cuttings
- Plant at an angle into ridges
- 03
Establishment
90 days- Keep weed-free
- Gap-fill any cuttings that failed
- 04
Root bulking
180 days- Occasional weeding
- Monitor for mosaic symptoms
- 05
Maturity and harvest
60 days- Test-lift a plant to check root size
- Harvest in batches as needed
Watch for
Common problems
Cassava mosaic disease
- What you will see
- Yellow mottled leaves, distorted leaflets, badly stunted plants and small roots.
- What to do
- Plant certified disease-free cuttings and resistant varieties. Remove and destroy infected plants. Never take cuttings from a diseased field.
Cassava brown streak disease
- What you will see
- Yellow blotches between leaf veins, brown necrotic streaks in the root flesh.
- What to do
- Often invisible above ground until harvest. Use tolerant varieties and clean planting material, and harvest at the earlier end of the window.
Cassava mealybug
- What you will see
- Bunched shoot tips, stunted growth, white waxy insects on growing points.
- What to do
- Largely controlled by natural enemies. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides, which kill those.
Follow the label for doses, and ask an extension officer or vet before using a chemical you have not used before.