Suchergebnisse

Cassava is planted each year in about 120,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Philippines, producing about 1.8 million tonnes of cassava roots. Principal products of the processing industry are food, dried chips and starch. As a traded commodity, however, cassava contributes only about 2% to gross value-adding in agriculture. The following factors favor the expansion of the industry: a) trends in associated commodities, b) dwindling prime agricultural land, c) expanding demand for cassava products, and d) availability of improved technologies. As a food crop, demand for cassava is increasing and this trend is expected to continue with the increase in population and improvements in techniques for transforming cassava roots into more stable, convenient and attractive products. Cassava has gained gradual acceptance as a high-energy component in commercial feed formulations. This is fueled by chronic shortages and the resulting high price of domestically produced maize. In specific locations, farmers now recognize that intercropping cassava with maize and given optimum care, this cropping system is economically comparable to two maize monocrops, and provides a more reliable income. The outlook for the cassava starch industry in the Philippines is rather bleak. Trade liberalization and the absence of real government assistance in improving productivity and efficiency are threatening the survival of this sector. The agricultural modernization program, which is supposed to cushion the impact of trade liberalization, virtually has had no funding during the first two years from its passage, and until now has not produced anything of practical significance. With the negative outlook for the Philippine sugar industry, cassava emerged as the most viable alternative source of raw material for production of alcohol for liquor. San Miguel Corporation has been investing heavily on plant construction and supply base development since 1995. The greatest challenge in the future will be to put in place a system that results in an adequate and stable year-round supply of cassava for the distillery. Strengthening the cassava industry in the Philippines requires strengthening the linkage between production and markets accompanied by improved access to credit, supportive government policies and appropriate technical support.

The report covers varietal improvement for the period 1990-1993. Not much progress was made in the 1990/91 season due to the occurence of a super typhoon that damaged standing field trials. In recent years, however, progress in selection was made in terms of high yield and dry matter content and good plant type. The cassava germplasm bank of PRCRTC has currently a total of 270 accessions, includeing 30 varieties introduced through tissue culture from Thailand. From this germplasm a polycross nursery and hybridization block were established to incorporate desirable genes into the local cultivars. Since 1991 about 3659 new genotypes have been evaluated by PRCRTC. From these evaluations and screenings two varieties of CIAT origin were released by the Philippines Seedboard. These were CM4014-3 (PSB Cv-9) named VC-4 and MCol 1684 (PSB Cv-10) named VC-5. CM4014-3 is a cross of CM728-3 x CM681-2 of the 1984 CIAT introduced population. This variety had an average yield of 32.9 t/ha and is recommended throughout the country. It has a medium HCN and high starch content which is good for processing. MCol 1684 is a CIAT clone introduced in 1979. This is the first variety intended for regional release in Mindanao. It has had an average yield of 44.8 t/ha for the last 10 years. This variety has high HCN and medium starch contents and is good for starch processing. Preliminary and General Yield Trials with cassava materials from CIAT/Colombia and the Thai-CIAT program resulted in the identification of outstanding clones that are high yielding, have high dry matter content and good plant type. In the General Yield Trial, about 40% of the Thai-CIAT materials had yields of 30-40 t/ha after 9 months and about 10% had yields of 50-65 t/ha. In the General Yield Trial about 45% of entries from CIAT/Colombia had yields of 20-30 t/ha after 10 months and about 36% produced 30-40 t/ha. This population has also high dry matter content. Germplasm selection focuses also on starch content and plant type aside from resistance to mites and scale insects. Promotional yield trials with the recommended cassava varieties were conducted in farmer's fields and farmers made their own selection of desired varieties. Gradually the distribution system of recommended cassava varieties have gained momentum. Lakan and Golden Yellow, both Philippines Seed board varieties, are already widely used by farmers in Samar, Leyte and northern Mindanao for human food, starch production and feeds. MCol 1684 is planted in almost 2000 ha in Lanao del Sur, specifically for starch processing. The other recommended varieties, VC-1, VC-2 and VC-3, are already in the fields of some farmer cooperators. With the joint effort of the local government and the private sector it is expected that rapid diffusion of recommended cassava varieties will be attained through the establishment of cassava nurseries and demonstration farms in strategic areas where cassava is an important crop.