trendsinproductionandutilizationofcassavainasiaand.docVIP

Trends in Production and Utilization of Cassava in Asia and its Potential as a Bio-Fuel Reinhardt Howeler ABSTRACT Over the past decade the cassava planting area in Asia has slightly decreased but yields have markedly increased, resulting in a steady increase in production, from 46.1 million tonnes in 1995 to 60.0 million tonnes in 2004. In most countries cassava is utilized domestically, but in Thailand it is mainly for the export market. China is presently a major importer, importing about 75% of its domestic requirement. In almost all countries in Asia, cassava is principally used in food, while in China and Thailand it is mainly used for animal feed or industrial purposes. Potential markets for cassava are mainly in the area of starch and starch-derived products, for domestic animal feed, and for processed food. However, recently there has been a renewed interest in the use of cassava as a raw material for the production of ethanol, mainly as a “bio-fuel” to mix with gasoline to produce “gasohol”. In this market cassava has to compete with sugarcane in tropical countries and with maize in the temperate zone. Cassava starch can generally compete with other sources of starch on the basis of price in the mass market, and on the basis of its functional properties in certain specialized markets. However, cassava lacks the wide range of intrinsic starch characteristic found in some competing crops like maize and potato. For cassava to enter in a wider range of specialized markets, we need to develop new “high-value” varieties with specific starch or nutritional characteristics required in the processing industry. INTRODUCTION Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) has its origin in Latin America where it has been grown by the indigenous Indian population for at least 4000 years. After the discovery of the Americas, European traders took the crop to Africa as a potentially useful food crop; later it was also taken to Asia to be grown as a food security crop