Cassava is a crop with a wide range of uses, not only as a staple food, but also in the production of starch, alcohol, feed, and other products. With the growth of the global population and the increase in food demand, the demand for cassava market is increasing year by year, especially in China, due to the limited cassava planting area, the market potential is huge. Growing cassava requires mastery of planting techniques, including choosing the right variety, land and planting time, field management and pest control. In addition, large-scale planting and diversified operation are also important ways to improve the efficiency of cassava planting.
First of all, mastering cassava cultivation techniques is key to ensuring yield and quality. Cassava does not require high soil conditions, but it is easier to obtain high yields after deep ploughing. When planting, we should choose a place with sufficient sunshine, good ventilation and good drainage capacity for planting, and select healthy, well-growing, disease-free cassava for seed selection. Secondly, large-scale cultivation can gain more market share and improve the level of profitability. Large-scale planting is also conducive to the formation of brand effect and enhance product competitiveness. In addition, diversification can process cassava into products such as tapioca flour and tapioca starch, or apply cassava to feed, alcohol, textiles and other fields, bringing more business opportunities and profits, making wealth more stable and sustainable.
However, China's tapioca starch is highly dependent on imports, and the import volume far exceeds the export volume and shows a growth trend8. This shows that despite the high market demand, the domestic cassava industry is facing the problem of insufficient raw material production and fierce market competition. Therefore, strengthening the improvement of germplasm resources, the improvement of processing technology and the diversified development of the industrial chain have become important directions for the development of cassava industry.
To sum up, cassava planting is an entrepreneurial project with broad market prospects, but it is necessary to pay attention to the improvement of planting technology and processing technology, and also pay attention to market dynamics and policy guidance to achieve sustainable development.
What is the reason why China's tapioca starch imports far exceed exports?
Market gap: There is a gap in China's cassava starch market, which has led to large imports to meet domestic demand. In 2019, China's tapioca starch imports were 237590,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 1828%, and the export volume is only 6802 tons. This suggests that imports have increased significantly, despite a relatively small volume of exports.
Selection of importing countries: China's tapioca starch importing countries are mainly Thailand and Vietnam. These countries are China's main imports due to their lower production costs and higher quality standards**.
Growth trend of import volume: In 2022, with the continuous growth of domestic demand for tapioca starch, the import volume of tapioca starch will also increase year by year. This growth trend may be due to the increased domestic demand for tapioca starch and the increased demand for the quality of imported products.
The impact of the epidemic on border trade: From January to February 2022, one of the main reasons for the increase in domestic tapioca starch imports was the difficulty in customs clearance of starch at border trade ports affected by the epidemic, and some border trade flour was converted to regular trade flour procurement, which prompted the overall import volume of regular trade flour to increase compared with last year. This shows that during the epidemic, border trade activities were restricted, which directly affected the import and export of tapioca starch**.
There are many reasons why China's tapioca starch imports far exceed exports, including the market gap, the choice of importing countries, the growth trend of imports, and the impact of the epidemic on border trade activities.
The soil conditions for cassava cultivation include soil adaptability, good drainage, deep soil, loose soil, rich organic matter and potassium, medium fertility or above, and avoidance of shallow topsoil and poor fertility. Together, these conditions contribute to healthy growth and good yield and quality of cassava.