" While #cassava has been ensconced in South and Central America for millennia, its story is far from over. In the age of climate change and mounting efforts toward sustainability, cassava is emerging as a possible world crop. "
Cassava: The perilous past and promising future of a toxic but nourishing crop. An anthropology professor shares what he's learned from "studying cassava gardens on the Amazon River and its myriad tributaries in Peru."
@TheConversationUS reports: "Cassava’s many assets would seem to make it the ideal crop. But there’s a problem: Cassava is highly poisonous."
The 3rd largest source of #food carbs, in tropical areas, after rice & maize, is #cassava#tubers. Native to South America, it made its way to many places in Africa, Middle East & Asia nations during early trade times. Nigeria is world's largest producer of this food crop & Thailand is largest exporter of cassava starch. Very drought tolerant, thrives in poor soil & is a #FoodStaple in developing nations.
My family grew them in Vietnam. We've been eating them for generations.
#Cassava plays an important #SocioEconomic role as a secondary #FoodCrop in Viet Nam. In the north the crop is an important source of food and feed at the household level; in the south mainly as a source of cash income. In South #VietNam cassava is predominantly used as a raw material for processing into a wide range of products, both at the household & small-scale processor level, generating employment in rural areas.
#Cassava sustains lives of an est. 500 million people in #Africa, #LatinAmerica & #Asia. The crop has great potential for #FoodSecurity, not only at the family but also at the community as well as at national levels in many countries. Cassava has many advantages compared to cereal crops, in terms of drought tolerance, pest & disease resistance, adaptation to poor soils & indeterminate harvest period. An ideal crop for emergency situations, such as during war or natural disasters.
Each node on a #cassava stem is a scar where an old leaf dropped off. Like rings on a tree, wider distance between nodes indicates good growing conditions, while shorter ones denote times of stress. Wider spacing is one of the quality characteristics farmers look for when buying stems to replant.