High demand for cassava pushes price up

High demand for cassava for food and industrial use has pushed up the farm-gate price of the crop making cassava farming one of the most attractive ventures in the Akuapem North Municipality in recent times.

Despite the introduction of high yielding cassava varieties in the Municipality by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), the demand for the crop is expected to persist.

While cassava is now being used as raw material in the beer industry, residents in the area use it mainly for fufu, process it into gari and cassava dough.

Currently, an acre of cassava costs between GH¢ 1,170.00 to GH¢ 1,350.00 on the average with some farmers quoting higher prices depending on the demand as against prices of between GH¢ 450.00 and GH¢ 900.00 per acre last year.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Kwamoso, the Akuapem North Municipal Desk Officer for the Root and Tubers Improvement and Marketing Program (RTIMP), Mr Richmond Yeboah, said, last year 135 farmers and individuals in the Municipality were introduced to new high yielding varieties of cassava like “Bankyi” “Hemaa”, IFAD, “Inkabom” and “Afisiefi”.

He said each of the varieties could yield an average of 11.7 tons per acre as against the yield of six tons per acre by the old cassava varieties.

Mr Yeboah said apart from “Afisiefi” variety, all the new varieties could be used for fufu and “ampesi” and also be processed into other cassava products. He said another batch of 219 farmers group and individuals would be introduced to the new cassava varieties by the end of the year.