Eight-foot cassava tuber thrills Mityana

There was excitement at Bbanda trading centre in Busujju county in Mityana when a prominent farmer harvested an eight-foot long cassava tuber.

Pascal Kaweesi harvested the cassava tuber from his two-acre cassava garden, which he has been tending for two-and-a-half years.

“When I started uprooting it, I felt the tuber was too long. I continued digging up the soil until I realised that the cassava was about eight feet long,” Kaweesi said.

Kaweesi called some neighbours, who tied two long sticks around the tuber so as not to damage it and helped him carry it to his home.

Residents later gathered at Kaweesi’s home to catch a glimpse of the imposing tuber.

Some took photographs with the tuber as others congratulated the owner on the great harvest.

Kaweesi said he had spared the cassava for over two-and-a-half years because he had other types of food in the garden.

“I cannot recall where I got the cassava cuttings, which I planted there so I do not know the variety.
However, I ask experts to examine the variety and establish the factors that enabled it to grow to such a length so that they can be promoted.
It is a great and unusual harvest,” Kaweesi said.

On Friday, more people continued to visit Kaweesi’s home to see the cassava.
Among them was the director of the Mityana Agrovet Institute, John Kintu, with over 20 students who are pursuing a diploma in agriculture.