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Cassava is a crop that is attached to many importance in Nigeria. The present administration of the Buhari-Osinbajo led government has shown great willingness to diversify the nation’s economy in which agriculture is one of the sectors considered for this diversification of the economy. Processing of cassava calls for great attention considering the deteriorating nature of the crop after been harvested for 2 – 3 days. For this reason, the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM), Ilorin in April 2018 conducted a National Mechanization survey exercise in Oyo State to find out the present level of agricultural mechanization available for cassava processing operation so as to know which area of the processing operation aspect of cassava that calls for urgent attention in the State. The stratified sampling technique was used for conducting the survey exercise in the State. Survey results revealed for the nine (9) cassava processing operations involved showed that cassava peeling and washing operations were almost dominated by manual processing method in all the cassava processing units visited in the State. A total of 65.20% was recorded for manual processing method for the nine (9) processing operations involved for cassava. It was also noted that a total of 20% was recorded for mechanical processing method for the nine (9) cassava processing operations involved as grating, dewatering and milling operations contributed to this figure. This 20% value obtained for machine involvement for the processing of cassava in the State calls for urgent attention of the Oyo State government to increase the number of cassava processing machines used for the processing operations of cassava in the State. Cassava processors in the State should be encouraged by the State government through the provision of loan facility in which they can use to procure cassava processing machines for use in boosting their cassava processing operations. |
