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Tapioca
Botanical Name – Manihot esculenta Crantz
Family- Euphorbia

Varieties

CO 2, CO 3, CO (Tp) 4, CO (Tp ) 5, MVD 1, H 165, H 226, Sree Visakham
(H.1687), Sree Sahya (H.2304), Sree Prakash (S. 856), Sree Vijaya, Sree Jaya, SreeRekha, Sree Prabha, Sree Athulya, Sree Raksha (CMD resistant), Yethapur 1 (YTP 1)

Climate and Soil

Soil –

Well drained soil preferably red lateritic loam with a pH range of 5.5-7.0 is ideal.

Climate-

  • Thrives best in tropical, warm humid climate with well distributed rainfall of over 100 cm per annum.
  • Cultivated upto an elevation of 1000 m.

Season and Planting

  • Plant throughout the year under irrigation.
  • Plant during April for rainfed crop.
  • Select healthy mosaic free vigorous plants for taking planting materials.
  • Prepare setts of 15 cm long with 8 – 10 nodes from the middle portion of the stem.
  • Avoid mechanical damage while preparation and handling of setts.
  • The cut end should be uniform. Dip the setts in Carbendazim 1 g in one liter of water for 15 minutes before planting to prevent tuber rot.
  • Dip the setts in Dimethoate @ 2 ml/litre of water + Carbendazim @ 2 g/litre of water for 15 minutes before planting.
  • Scale insects and mealy bug adhering to the planting materials may be destroyed by the sett treatment
  • Plant the setts vertically with buds pointing upward on the sides of ridges.
  • 12,500 setts are needed for planting one ha.
  • For rainfed conditions, treat the setts with a mixture of potassium chloride @ 5 g/lit and micronutrients viz., ZnSO4 and FeSO4 each @ 0.5% for 20 minutes.
  • Dip the setts for 20 minutes in Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria each at 30 g/l

Virus elimination and tissue culture in cassava

  • The protocol for virus elimination through tissue culture has been standardized for the varieties MVD 1 and H 226 by using meristem culture.
  • The Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with BAP at 0.1 mg/l for meristem establishment and shoot growth and MS medium without growth regulators for rooting have to be followed.
  • The in vitro plantlets are to be hardened in sterile pot mixture (sand : soil : FYM in 1 : 1: 1) under mist chamber for 10-15 days and later kept under shade net for 10 days before transferring them to the open field.

Preparation of Field

  • Plough the field 4 – 5 times to get a fine tilth.
  • The soil depth should be atleast 30 cm.
  • Form ridges and furrows at the following spacings:

Irrigated
75 x 75 cm (17,777 setts) and 90 x 90 cm (12,345 setts).

Rainfed
60 x 60 cm (27,777 setts)

Under Kanyakumari conditions
90 x 90 cm (12,345 setts

Irrigation

  • First irrigation is given at the time of planting.
  • Life irrigation is given on the 3rd day followed by once in 7 – 10 days
  • upto 3rd month and  once in 20 – 30 days upto 8th month.

Drip Irrigation

  • Install drip system with main and sub-main and place the inline laterals at the interval of 1.5 m.
  • Place the drippers at the interval of 60 cm for 4 LPH and 50 cm for 3.5 LPH in the lateral system.
  • Form the raised beds at 120 cm width at an interval of 30cm and place the
    laterals at the centre of each bed.

Sequential Cropping

  • Raise CO 2 vegetable cowpea during March and harvest green pods before planting cassava during June –July.
  • After green pod harvest, incorporate the cowpea haulms into the field by disc ploughing.
  • Through sequential cropping, 50% reduction in application of FYM
    (12.5 t/ha) and P (30 kg/ha) is ensured.

Manuring

  • Irrigated crop
  • Apply 25 t FYM/ha and incorporate at the time of planting.
  • Apply 45:90:120 kg NPK/ha as basal and 45:120 kg NK/ha 90 days after planting during earthing up.
  • Apply 25kg ZnSo4, 20 kg S as gypsum, 10 kg Borax ha-1 as basal soil application.
  • Rainfed crop
  • Apply FYM at 12.5 t/ha along with 50 kg N, 65 kg P and 125 kg K/ha as basal.
  • Apply 2 kg of Azotobactor through soil application at 30 – 60 days after planting on receipt of showers (2.0 kg Azotobacter + 20 kg FYM + 20 kg soil per hectare).

Fertigation
90: 90 :240 kg of NPK / ha. Apply once in every three days throughout the cropping
period.
Spacing

60 x 90cm in paired row system.

Fertigation Schedule

StageCrop stageDuration in daysFertilizer gradeTotal Fertilizer (kg/ha)Nutrient applied% of requirement
NPKNPK
1Planting to crop
establishment
20 19:19:19
+MN
13.0:45
0-0-50
23.57 34.67
7.87
4.48 4.50
4.48 –
4.48 15.60
3.93
10.005.0010.00
Subtotal8.984.4824.01   
2Vegetative stage3012:61:0
13:0:45
Urea
11.40
105.33
26.80
1.34
13.69
12.33
6.80


47.39
30.007.5020.00
Subtotal27.366.8047.39   
3Tuber formation stage3512:61:0
0:0:50
Urea
11.40
144.00
55.73
1.34

25.64
6.80


72.00
30.007.5030.00
Subtotal26.986.8072.00   
4Tuber development stage3519:19:19 + MN
0-0-50
Urea
23.57
182.67
48.87
4.48

22.48
4.48

4.48
92.34
30.005.0040.00
Subtotal26.964.4896.82   
Total90.28
(or)
90
22.56 (or)
22.50
240.22
(or) 240
10025100

75% RD of Phosphorus applied as superphosphate 421.88 kg/ha.
1. 19:19:19 = 47. kg / ha.
2. 13:0:45 = 140kg/ha.
3. 12:61:0 = 23kg/ha
4. 0:0:50 = 335kg / ha
5. Urea = 132 kg / ha.

Chlorosis
Foliar spray of 1% FeSO4 + 0.5% ZnSO4 at 60 and 90 DAP.
After Cultivation

  • Fill up the gaps within 20 days of planting.
  • Carry out first weeding 20 days after planting.
  • Subsequent weeding should be done once in a month upto 5 months depending
    upon the weed intensity.
  • Thin to two shoots per plant during 60th day.
  • Grow aggregate onion, coriander, short duration pulses and short duration vegetables as intercrops from planting date upto 60 days

Plant Protection

1.Spiralling whitefly: Aleurodicus disperses

Life history traits of Encarsia guadeloupae, a natural enemy of the ...

Symptoms of damage:

  • Yellowing of leaves
  • Sooty mould in lower leaves
  • Dropping of affected leaves

Management:

  • Remove the alternate host abutilon indicum from the field
  • Place yellow sticky trap to attract whitefly

2.Whitefly: Bemisia tabaci 

spiraling whitefly (Aleurodicus dispersus)

Symptoms of damage:

  • Chlorotic spots on the leaves which latter coalesce forming irregular yellowing of leaf tissue
  • Severe infestation results in premature defoliation
  • Development of sooty mould
  • Vector of cassava mosaic virus

Management:

  • Remove alternate host: Abutilon indicum
  • Set up yellow sticky trap
  • Spray any one of the following
    • Phosalone 35 EC @2.5 l/ha
    • Quinalphos 25 EC @ 2.0 l/ha
    • Triazophos 40 EC 2.0 l/ha

3.Cassava scale: Aonidomytilus albus

Cassava scales | Infonet Biovision Home.

Symptoms of damage:

  • Infest stem portion
  • Leaves of affected plants discoloured and dry up
  • Stunting of plants 

Management:

  • Selection of clean (scale free) planting material)
  • Destroy infested stems
  • Encourage coccinellid predators
  • Spray methyl demeton 0.25%

4.Cassava mealy bug : Paracoccus marginatus

Control of cassava mealybug damage powder pink |Tan Thoi Hiep

Symptoms of damage:

  • Sucking of sap at cassava shoot tips, on the lower surface of leaves, and on stems. During feeding it injects a toxin into the cassava plant
  • Causing deformation of terminal shoots, which become stunted
  • Resulting in compression of terminal leaves into “bunchy tops”
  • Length of internodes is reduced, and stems are distorted

Management:

  • Spray malathion or fenitrothion @1ml/ha

Diseases

1.Mosaic

Cassava mosaic disease

Management-

  • Select the planting materials from healthy plants
  • Remove alternate weed hosts viz., Abutilon indicum
  • Install yellow sticky trap at 12 Nos/ha
  • Use nitrogen judiciously
  • Avoid excessive irrigation
  • Spray neem oil @ 3 % or fish oil rosin soap @ 25 g/l 
  • Apply methyl demeton in the early stage and phosalone in the late stages of crop growth

2.Cercospora Leaf spot

   Tapioca Diseases — Vikaspedia

  • Spray mancozeb @ 2 g/l twice at 15 days interval

 

 

3.Tuber rot

Cassava (manioc) | Diseases and Pests, Description, Uses, Propagation

  • Avoid water stagnation
  •  Give good drainage facilities
  • Spot drench with copper oxychloride @ 2.5 g/l or soil application of Trichoderma asperellum @ 2.5 kg/ha as basal and at 3rd and 6th month after planting

Crop Duration

9 to 11 months

Harvest

  • Crop can be harvested at 9 to 11 months after planting.
  • During tuber maturity, the leaves become yellow and 50 % of leaves become dried and sheds off.
  • The soil near the stem base of the stem shows cracking.
  • Tubers can be uprooted by using fork or crow bar.

Yield

Irrigated : 40 – 50 t/ha
Rainfed : 20 – 25 t/ha

Market Information

Crop Growing districts                           Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Dharmapuri, Villupuram
Major markets in Tamil Nadu              Salem, Dharmapuri, Erode