Almost all farmers in Nigeria produce cassava
either for food consumption or for sale to other end users. Partnership Initiatives
in the Niger Delta (PIND, 2011) reported that in the region, cassava is
produced by four types of producers: small scale subsistence farmers, small
scale commercial farmers, medium scale commercial and large scale farmers.
Subsistence Farmers – According to them, these farmers
account for about 95% of the cassava farmers in region. The farmers usually
plant cassava on 0.2 ha to less than 1 hectare (which is usually scattered
plots) and the crop is usually intercropped with maize, melon, vegetables, etc.
These producers plant cassava mainly for food consumption and sell excess. The
traditional use of crude implements such as hoes and cutlass and the use of
family labour are employed by these producers. In rare cases, hired labour is
engaged during weeding and harvesting periods. The old, disease prone variety
is common among these farmers and as such they record the lowest yields of 8-10
mt/hectare. Most of the farmers are financially constrained, therefore they
cannot afford to improved varieties, fertilizers and herbicides and as such do
not operate the farm as an enterprise (PIND, 2011).
Commercial Farmers - The farmers in
this group operate farms as an enterprise and could be further subdivided as:
small scale commercial farmers, medium scale commercial farmers and large scale
farmers.
Small Scale Commercial Farmers: They manage
about 1 - 5 hectares of cassava farms with hired labour and a major
characteristic of this group is the use of improved varieties of cassava for
planting. On the average, their yield is about 11-15mt/ha which are quite low
compared to the potential yield of about 25 mt/ ha (PIND, 2011). One of the reasons attributed for the current
low yield is that beyond the use of the improved varieties for planting, the
farmers do not apply fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides and do not ensure
good cultural practices. Some farmers in this group were involved in the IITA/
SPDC/USAID CEDP as well as the NDDC project in the region and such farmers were
obtaining yields of about 25-30 mt/ha due to the technical support (such as
improved varieties, extension services, training) rendered to them. However
such farmers are few compared to the large numbers of subsistence farmers in the
region. Opportunities exist for the majority of farmers in this group to
increase yield per hectare to about 25 – 30 mt /ha with training, extension
services and available/affordable farm inputs.
Medium Scale Commercial Farmers: The farmers
manage about 6 - 10 hectares of contiguous fields with some level of
mechanization adopted. The farmers use improved varieties and get yields of
about 27- 30 mt/hectare.
Large Scale Farmers: are quite few in
the region with farm size accounting for 10ha and up to >1,000 ha. Some of
these farms are set up by the large scale processing firms such as Nigerian
Starch Mills Limited in Abia state and Godilogo Ltd in Cross River state.
Mechanized farming is adopted by this group practice and yield output is about
27 – 35 mt/ha when all the necessary technical requirements are adopted. The
high cost of operating the farms is making some of these firms to scale down on
investments, thus leading to and an estimated output of 16-18 mt/ha.