CASSAVA PEELS: USE WITH CAUTION. Every plant has its own anti nutritional factors, and cassava is no exception. Its peels can contain cyanogenic glycosides, requiring serious caution always before feeding.

Cassava peels may serve ruminants when properly processed, but unsafe peels can release cyanide, causing weakness, breathing difficulty, nervous signs, collapse, and sometimes sudden death in animals under certain conditions.

I have seen healthy animals develop serious problems after consuming cassava peels, especially when farmers assume that every dried peel is automatically safe for livestock feeding purposes without proper processing.

Drying alone may not guarantee safety because moisture, processing quality, cassava variety, and storage conditions influence cyanogenic glycoside levels. Proper processing is therefore essential before feeding our animals safely consistently.

So, should we stop using cassava peels? No. We can safely utilize them when properly processed. I will share practical processing methods soon. Set your goals wisely this year today.

Happy New Year. It is the second day of the year. Have you set your goals right?

Abdullah Opeyemi Akande
B.Agric. (FUNAAB)
GAS (NIAS)
M.Sc. Animal Sci. (UI)
RAS (NIAS)
M.Sc. Int’l Business (UU, UK)
Ph.D. in view