consumption in much the same way as white yams. In the Pacific
Islands, cassava tubers are prepared for consumption by first
peeling the tuber, then they are grated and wrapped in banana
leaves and steamed. Sometimes, peeled cassava tubers are sliced
into small pieces and cooked together with rice or corn.

 Bitter cassava varieties are processed to remove the poisonous
substance before consumption. In Africa, processed bitter varieties
are popularly known as Gari and a large bulk of cassava is con-
sumed in this form. Tubers are prepared into Gari by fermenting
the tuber and expressing the juice by applying pressure on the
grated tuber until the poison is removed. The pulp is then heated
and dried.

 In South America, the most common form in which cassava
is consumed is in what is known as Farinha de Mandioca which is
prepared in much the same way as Gari, the only difference is in
the method of fermentation and juice extraction. Gari, and Farinha
de Mandioca preparation have been mechanized to fill the heavy
demands.

 Cassava flour is another form in which cassava is consumed.
Cassava flour is suitable for baking bread, biscuits and other
kitchen uses. In Africa, the most popular way of using cassava
flour is to make it into paste. Small balls of paste are eaten with
stews or soup like pounded yams.


 Another important use of cassava is in the manufacture of
grocery tapioca. Tapioca is made from cassava starch.

 As Animal Feed Cassava, because it is inherently a high
yielding plant and easy to produce, is a cheap source of high
energy animal feed. A comparison of food calorie production is
shown in Table 2.
 Cassava produces more yield per hectare than most tropical
food crops. Yield of 9 tons per hectare as shown in Table 2 is not
exceedingly high. The figures presented here, however, are very
approximate. Cassava production of as high as 60 tons of tuber
per hectare has been obtained in some experiment stations.

 It is interesting to note that sorghum, a popular grain and
forage crop in the Virgin Islands is significantly outyielded by
cassava. Calorie production of cassava is approximately four times
the calorie yield of sorghum.

 Fresh sweet cassava tuber can be fed directly to animals.
It is an excellent feed for fattening hogs, goats, and sheep. A large
bulk of cassava tuber used for animal feeds is processed in the form
of chips and pellets, which are excellent energy feed for dairy
cows, calves, and poultry.

Other Uses
 The most important industrial product derived from cassava


TABLE 2.


APPROXIMATE FOOD CALORIE PRODUCTION BY VARIOUS FOOD CROPS


 Crop
Cassava
Yam
Sweet Potato
Taro
Rice
Maize
Sorghum
Irish Potato
Wheat


Yield
Tons/hal/
 9
 8
 7
 6
 2
 2
 1


Mcal/ha2/
 12
 7
 7
 6
 5
 8
 3


Approximate
Mcal/ha/month
 1.1
 0.8
 1.6
 1.4
 1.0
 1.8
 0.8
 1.4
 1.1


 1/ha = Hectare = 2.471 acres
2/Macl = million calories. Used as an index of food producing capacity of the plant.
"The Tropical Tuber Crops" by I.C. Onueme, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1974.


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