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ABSTRACT
Cassava is an important staple in Nigeria and perhaps the most versatile staple in terms of the variety of products derived from it and the uses to which these products can be put. Garri is the major food product derived from cassava. Cassava pellet is an important animal feed, while starch, another derivative is important industrially. Cassava leaves are also consumed as vegetable (Jones, 2009; Fresco, 2006; Dostie, Johanne and Mohammed, 2009; Haggblade and Gelson, 2003). In spite of its usefulness, cassava is considered an inferior crop (Nweke, 2004), produced mainly by resource limited small holder farmers under subsistence based farming systems constrained by low external inputs due to capital constraints. For these resource limited, subsistence oriented farmers, cassava is more or less an insurance for food security. It is the major crop in the mix of crops cultivated by these farmers and the only crop still in the field long after other crops have been harvested. Sometimes the crop remains in the field until the next farming season and is known as Katamanka in some parts of the South East. While in the field, it is harvested periodically depending on the consumption needs of the family. Sometimes some of the crop is harvested and sold in the local market to raise cash income with which to settle other financial obligations of the farm family in terms of education, clothing, health etc.
