(Trinidad Guardian) The Ministry of Food production, Land and Marine Affairs has developed a national plan for the cassava industry. The plan is to produce a range of value-added cassava products for the domestic and export markets. Standing to gain from the priority development are the bakery and fast food industries. The tropical root crop is just one of ten commodities selected for priority under the National Agri-business Development Plan with the T&T Agri-business Association (TTABA) being assigned the responsibility for the development and implementation of the programme. Cassava, which is high in starch, was selected by the ministry because of its agronomic advantages, high yield potential, nutritional benefit, drought resistance, low praedial larceny and the capacity to be left in the ground after maturity.
With this in mind, TTABA has launched a contract production programme with farmers and commenced the production of a range of value-added products on the shelves of supermarkets, ranging from frozen fries (straight and crinkled), logs, wedges, grated, puree and cassava meal. Now they are zeroing on bakeries and fast food outlets to buy into the cassava line of products.
Rising to the occasion
The bakeries are being offered grated cassava to be utilised in a range of other bakery products including pone, cakes, biscuits, buns and muffins. “We have tested it with a number of bakeries and got very good results. The use of cassava in these quantities not only ensures a healthier product but result in a product that is more moist and fluffy in texture,” said Vassel Stewart TTABA’s ceo. While bakers pay less than TT$3 a pound for wheat flour, Stewart said the grated cassava which can last up to a year in cold storage is priced at TT$4.25 a pound. “We can’t go lower than TT$4.25, not with the cost of production. We are in discussions with the Government of a possible price support for a two-to-three-year period while we get the cost down.”
The bakery industry consumes some 42 per cent of the average 90,000 tonnes of imported wheat products annually. Fast food outlets are also being urged to shift from potato to cassava fries, which are high in fibre and carbohydrates. Stewart pointed out that while the market for imported frozen white potato fries is 11,000 tonnes per annum, cassava can be used as a substitute. If these modest targets for import substitution of wheat and white potato fries are achieved over the next three years, Stewart said a market would be created that would justify a seven fold increase in domestic production of fresh cassava.
Ramping up production
TTABA is now looking to ramp up production from 10,000 to 15,000 pounds of cassava per acre to 25,000 pounds per acre. If this is achieved, Stewart boasted TTABA will be able to produce as much as 30,000 tonnes of processed cassava per day. In order to reduce the cost of production and the price of cassava the Government, through TTABA and the Cassava Industry Development Committee, has begun to introduce a series of technology intervention in the industry. These include machinery for mechanical planting and harvesting, introduction of improved varieties, production of clean planting material, training in improved agronomic practice and larger scale production.
The ministry will also provide a number of incentives to encourage increased production at the farm level and increased utilisation by processors and the food industry, supported by the ministry’s soon to be launched “Buy Local Campaign” to encourage consumers to eat healthier by buying locally grown foods. In September, Vasant Bharath, Minister of Food Production met with representatives of a local and regional fast food chain with a view of replacing large quantities of potato chips with cassava fries.
