Hello Nairalanders, it's another planting season. Let's talk about cassava cropping system.

Cassava production in Nigeria occurs within a variety of cropping systems which, on a given parcel of land, could be in the form of:

• Monocrop – cassava is the only crop on the plot; this is found mainly on large-scale commercial farms.

• Intercrop – cassava is grown alongside other crops on the same plot at the same time.

• Crop rotation – this can take two forms:
(1) Crop rotation under continuous cropping: This involves continued use of the same parcel of land while alternating the crops grown from one season to the next or from one year to the next.

(2) Crop rotation nested in fallow: Fallow involves leaving a parcel of land unused for some time to enable soil fertility to build back up before reuse. Some fallows are natural (i.e. the land is left unsown, as commonly practiced in Nigeria, West and Central Africa) while others are managed (i.e. a cover crop is planted on the land to enhance the soil fertility restoration process).

Under the traditional cropping system, which involves growing a mixture of different crops and varieties of crops on the same plot of land at the same time, there is limited scope for the intensiication of any one of the crops.

Furthermore the system is complex and dificult to analyze to come up with evidence-based recommendations for improvements.

More simple systems with just two or three crops are easier to analyze and therefore enable research results to be communicated and applied.

To achieve sustainable commercial production of cassava, you as a farmer should consider reducing the number of accompanying crops on the same plot.

The crops grown together with cassava in Nigeria vary from region to region, and locality to locality, due to differences in agro-ecological conditions and socio-cultural practices.

The common intercrops with cassava include:
• Cassava and maize
• Cassava and a legume (cowpea,soybean,groundnuts, pigeon pea)
• Cassava and vegetables (chili peppers, fluted pumpkin, okra, melon (Cucumeropsis species), spinach, Solanum nigrum, and other Solanum species (black nightshade).
• Cassava, yam and maize
• Cassava and groundnut

Most small-scale cassava farmers are struggling to increase their farm yields, maintain soil health and achieve a more commercial orientation.

On the other hand, a number of new factories requiring cassava as their basic raw material are being established; the current output level from the traditional small-scale cassava farming systems is insuficient to meet the raw material needs
of the factories.

To respond to these commercial opportunities, you as a cassava farmer can adopt a basket of improved agronomic practices, which I will try to identify and describe in later posts.

From land selection and preparation to variety selection, planting time and density, weed management and harvesting.

Sample images: Cassava-maize intercrop