S1-20
Constraints and Future Strategies for Sustainable Productivity in
Cassava
Ramaswamy N.M.
Centre for Plant Breeding
and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore – 641
003, India.
In
India, the two major cassava (Manihot
esculenta Crantz) cultivation and production southern states are
Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In
Tamil Nadu four districts contribute to the total production.
In these places, cassava cultivation is done mainly by small
scale farmers on marginal lands. The
production of tubers/roots is greatly affected by biotic and abiotic
stresses. There is
instability in marketing of starch and other products.
Factors like non-availability of high yielding and high quality
planting material, control of tuber rot and virus (ICMV) diseases,
problems in marketing of starch and other products for profitable price,
are the main constraints. Future
research needs in varietal improvement and micropropagation for mass
multiplication, requires collaborative programmes between the university
research centres, private institutions and non-government organizations.
Participatory approaches in production and processing, research,
development, extension services, the effective role of SAGO SERVE
(Marketing Centre), perspectives in priority setting -user, scientist,
farmer, processor, consumer, use of waste waters from the starch and
sago factories, use of cassava as a low-cost versatile raw material for
agro- industrial development and biotechnology policy of the state
government in cassava improvement and cassava cultivation for reliable
food security, will be discussed.
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