**7. Bio-economic potential of cassava**

The potential and opportunities for developing cassava as a bio-economy in the future are widely open. This potential is in line with the development of the livestock industry, processed food, and other industries, such as alcohol, sorbitol, fructose, and many others. In the future, the plastic industry will also use tubers, including cassava, as raw material. The added value of cassava commodities obtained from the development of processed products in the downstream sector is much higher than the upstream at the farm level. Therefore, the approach for future agricultural development should be more directed at developing products postharvesting.

Agro-industry is a sector that is able to provide added value to cassava commodities. Agro-industry has a direct relationship with primary agriculture, where the industry processes primary agricultural commodities into intermediate products, such as flours and direct consumption products. Thus, the cassava agro-industry needs to be supported by the availability of research technology starting from the production (cultivation and varieties) up to postharvest and processing for food, feed, and other industries.

So far, cassava farming has not implemented an efficient business concept considering that there are many potentials and opportunities that have not been utilized optimally, for instance, the waste (biomass) from cassava crops, which can be used for unconventional feed [53]. Based on the definition of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the characteristics of unconventional feed are as follows: (1) it is the end result of production, which can no longer be used or recycled, (2) it is a solid or liquid organic material, (3) it has low economic value compared to the cost of collection and processing, (4) it is a source of fermentable carbohydrates, and (5) it is a bulky material containing high crude fiber and low nitrogen [54]. Cassava peel is an excellent raw material for feed. With cassava production of 18.9 million tons per year, white colored-inner peel waste can reach 1.5–2.8 million tons, while brown coloredouter peel waste reaches 0.04–0.09 million tons [55].

The potential economic value of cassava farming is IDR 71,790,000 at farmer productivity level of 42.5 tons/ha with the price of cassava is IDR 1,200/kg. Indirect economic benefits are IDR 20,698,000 or 29.7% of total economic benefits or 40% of direct use economic value received by farmers. Besides, there are intrinsic values that have not been detected and will be known in further cassava development (**Table 5**) [56].

The bio-economic approach is needed to create business sustainability in the form of a bio-industrial system integrating cassava crops and livestock. Besides tubers as the main yield of cassava, there are cassava by-products (biomass) that can be used for livestock feed. While livestock manure can be utilized as fertilizer or processed


#### **Table 5.**

*Potential economic value of cassava for agro-industry from the upstream industrial sector.*

into biogas for energy or fuel in the industry. Thus, the interdependence and beneficial integration creating biological and economic circulation can enhance the bioeconomy of cassava farming [57].

Cassava biomass processing can produce various products with high value-added and facilitate the essential nutrients recycling is needed to maintain the sustainability of land productivity. Cassava is also one of the most efficient crops for harvesting

**Figure 5.** *Integration pattern of cassava (Source: [56]).*

*Prospects of Cassava Development in Indonesia in Supporting Global Food Availability in Future DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106241*

solar energy. The integration of cassava cultivation with certain processing methods will form an industrial symbiotic structure, such as in the pattern of symbiotic interaction in biological community life (**Figure 5**) [56].

### **8. Upcoming strategy in cassava development**

Based on the cassava business development map (**Figure 4**), policies and operational strategies for cassava development can be carried out. **Table 6** formulates policies and operational strategies for the four cassava business sectors. The operational strategies are concrete steps in implementing policies that must be carried out to develop cassava toward certain targets.

*First*, the strategy carried out at the farm level to increase cassava production in the form of intensive cultivation with the application of new technology at the production and post-production stages, as well as expansion of the planting area. The expansion of the planting area includes: (a) new land clearing, (b) double planting, and (c) increasing harvest index. Meanwhile, increasing production through intensification can be done by applying several alternative cultivation technologies, including (1) improved varieties, (2) seed preparation, (3) land preparation, (4) planting, (5) fertilization, (6) plant maintenance, and (7) harvest.

*Second*, the policy for the food business sector is to regulate the production system of cassava commodities from upstream to downstream. The continuity of the supply



#### **Table 6.**

*Policy and operational strategies for cassava development.*

of cassava raw materials is important because the cassava harvest period is relatively long and cassava planting is mostly done during the rainy season. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the planting system and the zoning of the cassava planted area in order to provide sustainable yields for the supply of raw materials, such as for tapioca production.

The inappropriate planning in cassava procurement causes a significant loss of starch content. This inappropriate occurred on farmers' land by suspending the harvest time to anticipate higher-selling prices, and in the warehouse of the cassava processing industry where do the overstock due to concerns that the supply of raw material would be inconsistent during the low season so that it was unable to meet the factory's demand for a year. Therefore, appropriate planning in the cassava procurement will increase production efficiency and reduce production costs, and at the same time will maintain a consistent supply of raw material to starch industries [58].

*Third*, the policy for the feed business sector will be implemented is the socialization of livestock ration technology using cassava biomass (tuber peels, stems, and leaves), which is quite potential and needs to be explored. The optimal utilization of local resources is a strategic step in achieving business efficiency in ruminant livestock production. This efficiency will be more significant if these resources are not directly needed by competitors, namely, humans and livestock, other than ruminants. Feed is closely related to productivity and production costs; therefore, the efficient use of local resources will greatly affect the development of ruminants [59].

Cassava is an important multi-purpose crop. Cassava is an affordable alternative feed for livestock and has great potential in the future due to the increasing demand for cassava products. Cassava tubers are low in protein but a good source of carbohydrates that can be used as a supplement in poultry feed. The leaves have a moderate protein content, which can replace part of conventional protein sources in livestock

*Prospects of Cassava Development in Indonesia in Supporting Global Food Availability in Future DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106241*

feed. Anti-nutritional substances, especially cyanide, reduce the feeding value of cassava commodities, but the appropriate processing can reduce the level and make the product safe for the feed. Cassava commodity has entered the industrial market and has great potential in the feed industry [60].

*Fourth,* the policy of cassava for the industrial raw material sector is to increase business scale through product development or diversification, business partnership, and producer capacity improvement. The policy is expected to overcome the obstacles of cassava as industrial raw material because the position of cassava development in this sector is facing opportunity (O) and threat (T) factors.

For instance, some cassava enterprises in the Central Java and Yogyakarta Provinces had already performed business-oriented processing and quality assurance methods, which require the best quality of cassava as industrial raw material. Some business units that diversify and intensify their products perform more effective business and result in a better selling price. However, most of the business units have not kept accounting records, resulting in the lack of data about the financial position. Business partnership, business diversification and intensification, and business record keeping can guarantee the sustainability of business [61].
