‘IITA research improves ethanol from cassava’

It said this development was sequel to its acquiring of the improved  varieties and best-bet agronomic practices in the production of cassava, from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, all of which were made available to the farmers.  Commissioned on January 30  in Lasada, Igbese community in Ogun State, the ethanol factory will produce […]

It said this development was sequel to its acquiring of the improved  varieties and best-bet agronomic practices in the production of cassava, from International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, all of which were made available to the farmers.  
Commissioned on January 30  in Lasada, Igbese community in Ogun State, the ethanol factory will produce 9 million litres, per annum, requiring approximately 250 tonnes of cassava, per day.
Already, over 8,000 farmers located within 70-kilometre radius of Igbesa, covering Ogun and Oyo states, south-west Nigeria, have been engaged and the factory is providing more than 40,000 indirect jobs to people in the area, Mr Ola Rosiji, Chairman of AADL, said.
Commending the board and management of the company, Dr Kenton Dashiell, IITA Deputy Director General, Partnerships & Capacity Development, representing Director General of Nteranya Sanginga, said the inauguration of the factory was indeed a good opportunity for Africa and, especially, cassava growers who now have bigger markets for their produce.
He said that the factory would create jobs, attract foreign investment, and create wealth for the people, adding that IITA was willing to partner with the private sector to lift 11 million people out of poverty and also reclaim and put into sustainable use 7.5 million hectares of degraded land.
Collaboration between IITA and AADL, a subsidiary of the Lexcel Group, began in the early 2000s when the project was conceived and IITA provided inputs to the feasibility study of the investment.
Also under the Cassava Transformation Agenda, which is being coordinated by Dr Richardson Okechukwu, IITA is, again, linking farmers to the factory. In addition, the Institute is also providing training and improved planting materials and technical advisory support to the firm.
HarvestPlus Country Manager, Paul Ilona, said the factory would change the outlook of cassava from the global perspective of “a poor man’s crop” to an industrial crop.