INTRODUCTION Its starchy roots are

INTRODUCTION Its starchy roots are the harvestable product, consumed
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the human food (approximately 60-70% of total production) in
most important staple foods in the human diet in the Africa, South America and Asia, cassava is also used for
tropics and is ranked as the third most important of animal feed, starch and alcohol production. Although it is
calories in the human diet worldwide, after rice and maize grown in a wide range of climates [5]. Cassava can grow
[1]. Cassava is mainly cultivated by small farmers in small in areas with a little than 500 mm annual rainfall and can
plots of poor, infertile acid soils, usually without survive dry periods of 5-6 months. It is therefore widely
applications of fertilizers and pesticides [2]. In most distributed in the tropical and subtropical ecosystem of
areas of cassava production, the crop has to endure a Africa with increasing cultivation under unfavorable
prolonged dry period of several months without rain environments due to its many advantages over other
under these stressful conditions, whereas most of other crops. Cassava is known to adapt to conditions of soil
annual food crops would fail. This ability to produce a water shortage through various mechanisms, such as
good yield under adverse edaphic and atmospheric shedding leaves, closing stomata, osmotic adjustment,
conditions has earned cassava the reputation of being a increasing root length and decreasing the leaf area.
“famine reserve crop” [3]. Storage roots are the main Cassava leaves remain photosynthetically active under
agricultural product, although leaves are also eaten in prolonged drought, although at a reduced rate and they
some country, primarily as a protein supplement [4]. are capable of partially recovering their photosynthetic
either fresh or after processing. In addition to its use as a
World J.