Cassava seed-bulking farms

Quality cassava cuttings close to the fields

Seed-bulking farms for cassava provide quality planting material to smallholder farmers directly close to their field. Seed-bulking farms are decentralized systems of production of large amounts of cutting from improved cassava varieties that are free of pest and diseases. In addition to facilitating access to improved varieties, these farms reduce the cost of transporting cuttings to the farmers’ field, thus increasing the profitability.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

20 ha of cassava farm

from cutting yield per ha each 16 months

IP

Open source / open access

Problem

Cassava growing in Africa faces a number of challenges in terms of the distribution and availability of disease-resistant planting material:

The distribution of cassava stem cuttings is problematic as they rapidly lose their sprouting vigor when stored. Moreover, their bulk and weight drive up transport costs, limiting the supply of improved cassava planting material.
Rural communities with poor road connectivity in remote parts of African countries face severe limitations in accessing disease-resistant cassava planting material, affecting their agricultural productivity and food security.
Smallholder farmers often rely on seed companies and institutions with limited geographical coverage, restricting their access to improved cassava varieties and pest- and disease-free planting materials.

Solution

The establishment of cassava seed-bulking farms offers promising solutions to these challenges :

These decentralized farms offer a cost-effective way to produce cassava planting materials, allowing multiplication of stem cuttings closer to cultivation fields.
Seed-bulking farms provide high-quality, disease-free cassava stem cuttings, improving access to superior cassava varieties.
This approach supports community-based businesses, boosting incomes for farmers and processors.
Cassava seed-bulking farms achieve high multiplication rates, enabling efficient distribution of planting materials.
Reduced transport times and decentralized production enhance planting material survival, leading to increased cassava yields and food crop resilience.

Key points to design your business plan

The Cassava seed bulking farms technology may be of interest to planting material Multiplier, and users (cassava farmers, aggregators).

Planting material Multiplier

The establishment of Cassava seed bulking farms offers a cost-effective solution to address the challenges of limited propagation and contamination in improved cassava varieties.

To efficiently multiply planting materials, you need:

To identify suitable cassava varieties for local farming conditions to increase demand,
Training on appropriate practice for seed-bulking on farms,
Optimise production and distribution of cassava planting material according to agro-ecological conditions and road connectivity.

Ensure compliance with national phytosanitary regulations and obtain a licence for setting up Cassava seed bulking farm activities.

To estimate the profitability associated with using this technology, consider factors such as:

The initial investment in setting up the seed bulking farm, the cost of acquiring seeds or in-vitro mother plants,
operational expenses including labor and maintenance costs, and the revenue generated from selling the high-quality planting materials to farmers and other stakeholders in the cassava seed system.

For better optimization of this technology, it is recommended to associate this technology with Disease resistant cassava varieties, Golden cassava varieties (Vitamin A fortified), Cassava varieties with high dry matter and starch content.

Your potential customers include wholesale distributors of cassava farmers, as well as development projects, government agencies, NGOs and aggregators. Establishing robust partnerships with partners is crucial for the success of your Cassava seed bulking farm business.

Users

Cassava seed-bulking farms benefit users by providing access to high-quality planting materials, enhancing yields, and creating opportunities for community-based enterprise development.

As key partners,you can also require planting material multipliers who can efficiently propagate the planting materials.

To use this technology efficiently,