Editing Cassava (section)

== Production ==

{{see also|Tapioca#Production}}

{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; width:14em; text-align:center; margin-right:1em;"
! colspan=2|Cassava production – 2022
|-
! style="background:#ddf; width:75%;"|Country
! style="background:#ddf; width:25%;"|<small>millions of [[tonne]]s</small>
|-
|{{NGR}} ||60.8
|-
|{{DRC}} ||48.8
|-
|{{THA}} ||34.1
|-
|{{GHA}} ||25.6
|-
|{{CAM}} ||17.7
|-
|{{BRA}} ||17.6
|-
|'''World''' ||'''330'''
|-
|colspan=2|<small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the [[United Nations]]<ref name="FAOSTAT-2024">{{cite web|url=http://faostat3.fao.org/browse/Q/QC/E|title=Cassava production in 2022, Crops/World Regions/Production Quantity/Year from pick lists|date=2024|publisher=UN [[Food and Agriculture Organization Corporate Statistical Database]] (FAOSTAT)|access-date=29 May 2024}}</ref></small>
|}
In 2022, world production of cassava root was 330 million tonnes, led by Nigeria with 18% of the  total (table). Other major growers were Democratic Republic of the Congo and Thailand.

Cassava is the third-largest source of carbohydrates in food in the tropics, after [[rice]] and [[maize]].<ref name="FAO-2016">{{cite web|title=Cassava|publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] of the United Nations (FAO) |url=http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/gcds/|access-date=24 November 2011|archive-date=18 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118061344/http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/agpc/gcds/}}</ref><ref name="Fauquet-1990">{{cite journal |author1=Fauquet Claude |author2=Fargette Denis |year=1990 |title=African Cassava Mosaic Virus: Etiology, Epidemiology, and Control |url=http://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1990Articles/PlantDisease74n06_404.pdf |journal=[[Plant Disease (journal)|Plant Disease]] |publisher=[[American Phytopathological Society]] (APS) |volume=74 |issue=6 |pages=404–411 |doi=10.1094/pd-74-0404 |bibcode=1990PlDis..74..404F |access-date=10 January 2011 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809004240/http://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1990Articles/PlantDisease74n06_404.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Afedraru-2019">{{cite web |last=Afedraru |first=Lominda |title=Uganda to launch innovative gene-edited cassava research |website=Alliance for Science |date=2019-01-31 |url=http://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2019/01/uganda-launch-innovative-gene-edited-cassava-research/ |access-date=2021-08-15 |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815171521/https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2019/01/uganda-launch-innovative-gene-edited-cassava-research/ |url-status=live }}</ref> making it an important staple; more than 500 million people depend on it.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dimensions of Need: An atlas of food and agriculture|publisher=United Nations [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO) |year=1995|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/u8480e/U8480E01.htm|access-date=23 November 2011|archive-date=24 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124095410/http://www.fao.org/docrep/u8480e/U8480E01.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> It offers the advantage of being exceptionally [[drought-tolerant]], and able to grow productively on poor soil. Cassava grows well within 30° of the equator, where it can be produced at up to {{convert|2000|m|ft|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} above sea level, and with  {{convert|50|to|5000|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} of rain per year. These environmental tolerances suit it to conditions across much of South America and Africa.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cock |first=James H. |title=Cassava |journal=The Crop Productivity Symposium, IRRI, los Banos, Philippines |date=September 1980 |pages=1–33 |url=https://cgspace.cgiar.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0bb17dbb-ef96-4ea9-9ca6-100ae47f0503/content}} reprinted as a chapter in ''Crop physiology case histories for major crops''. [[Academic Press]], 2021, pages 588-633.</ref>

Cassava yields a large amount of food energy per unit area of land per day – {{cvt|250,000|kcal/ha|kJ/ha|order=flip}}, as compared with {{cvt|156,000|kcal/ha|kJ/ha|order=flip}} for rice, {{cvt|110,000|kcal/ha|kJ/ha|order=flip}} for wheat and {{cvt|200,000|kcal/ha|kJ/ha|order=flip}} for maize.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=El-Sharkawy |first=Mabrouk A. |date=1 August 1993 |title=Drought-tolerant Cassava for Africa, Asia, and Latin America |url=http://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/43/7/441/249072/Droughttolerant-Cassava-for-Africa-Asia-and-Latin |journal=[[BioScience]] |language=en |volume=43 |issue=7 |pages=441–451 |doi=10.2307/1311903 |jstor=1311903 |issn=1525-3244 |access-date=19 April 2020 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121012151/https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/43/7/441/249072/Droughttolerant-Cassava-for-Africa-Asia-and-Latin |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cassava, [[Yam (vegetable)|yams]] (''[[Dioscorea]]'' spp.), and [[sweet potato]]es (''Ipomoea batatas'') are important sources of food in the tropics. The cassava plant gives the third-highest yield of [[carbohydrates]] per cultivated area among crop plants, after [[sugarcane]] and [[sugar beet]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gardeningplaces.com/articles/nutrition-per-hectare1.htm |title=Nutrition per Hectare for Staple Crops |website=GardeningPlaces.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609084139/http://www.gardeningplaces.com/articles/nutrition-per-hectare1.htm |archive-date=9 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cassava plays a particularly important role in agriculture in developing countries, especially in [[sub-Saharan Africa]], because it does well on poor soils and with low rainfall, and because it is a perennial that can be harvested as required. Its wide harvesting window allows it to act as a famine reserve and is invaluable in managing labor schedules. It offers flexibility to resource-poor farmers because it serves as either a subsistence or a cash crop.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=G. D. |year=2002 |title=Both Sides Now |journal=[[Current Anthropology]]|volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=611–630 |doi=10.1086/341532 |s2cid=18867515}}</ref> Worldwide, 800 million people depend on cassava as their primary food staple.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3278e.pdf |title=Save and Grow: Cassava |date=2013 |publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] |isbn=978-92-5-107641-5 |location=[[Rome]] |page=iii |access-date=27 October 2016 |archive-date=23 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123042441/http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3278e.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>