The Hindu Business Line : Tapioca project from BoI

Bank of India, in association with the Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) here, has launched a cassava (tapioca) project aimed at empowering the women in rural areas through entrepreneurial development.

Styled `Star Agrind Cassava Project', it seeks to promote cultivation of tapioca and train the rural women to manufacture various types of food products from it. Bank of India will provide the necessary financial support for the project.

CTCRI has developed various types of machines and equipment for manufacturing food products from tuber crops, particularly tapioca. The institute has also generated high-yielding short-duration varieties of tapioca with high levels of starch content.

The institute will provide the necessary technical support and impart training to the women entrepreneurs identified under the project.

PILOT PROJECT

As a pilot project, the bank has planned to set up 15 manufacturing units in Thiruvananthapuram district. Neyyatinkara Integrated Development Society (NIDS), a non-governmental organisation, will coordinate the implementation through the various self-help groups (SHGs) promoted by it.

Officials of the bank said CTCRI has supplied high-yielding varieties of tapioca to the SHGs for distribution among their members. The programme envisages that each member will plant at least 10 cuttings in their homesteads and the tapioca so produced will be processed at the units, which will be given the required machinery fabricated by CTCRI.

The cost for setting up a unit with minimum infrastructure is Rs 3-4 lakh. The cost of cultivation of tapioca is estimated at Rs 12,500 per acre. The programme will be extended to the other parts of the State in stages, the officials said.

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