Matière sèche des racines de manioc et aptitude à la transformation en foufou au Togo

Résumé

A study on tuberisation of cassava roots at the end of the growing cycle was conducted in an on-farm experiment in southern Togo, with particular attention being paid to the roots' suitability for fufu processing. The quality of fufu, a moist, boiled-and-ground cassava paste, is better when root dry matter content is high. The latter depends on the onset of rainfall. DM declines from 39% during the dry season to 35.5% after the first rains, and the decrease continues through time. Farmers claim that fufu quality will differ according to whether or not weeding was done during cassava growth. The study shows that regular weeding at the end of cassava growth allowed for more tuberisation but, on the other hand, implied a faster increase in soil moisture which rapidly resulted in fufu becoming increasingly unacceptable. Nevertheless, fufu quality always decreased in the rainy season.