When to plant Cassava in Calai

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Cassava

Cuando Cubango, Angola

Known here as mandioca

Cassava is a hardy, woody shrub grown for its fat, starchy roots — a food that grows where little else will.

Cassava in Calai, rain-fed and with irrigation
Measure Rain-fed With irrigation
Fit Favourable
When to plant (establish) 30 Oct 2026 – 19 Nov 2026 opens in 4 weeks 21 Jan 2026 – 1 Jan 2027
Expected harvest about 16.2 t/ha about 28.9 t/ha
Bearing cycle 240–730 days per crop once the plant is established. Planting to the first harvest takes longer than one cycle.
Work it takes 103–180 days per hectare, by hand
Rain meets its needs 61%

Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.

If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 30 Oct 2026. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.

This season's rainfall outlook for Calai is close to normal, so these dates match the pattern the area usually follows.

Planting after 19 Nov 2026 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.

What decides this in Calai

Rain and temperature 88%
The soil 96%
The lie of the land 96%

For cassava in Calai, rain and temperature is the tightest of the three at 88%. This one is fixed. It is why the planting window above is where it is — hitting those dates is the whole of your control here.

The 2026/27 season in Calai

Rainy seasonsOne each year — one chance to plant, so timing carries it
When the rains are expectedNovember 2026 to April 2027
Rain in a typical yearAbout 671 mm
This season's rainRain close to usual — plan around about 671 mm falling roughly when it always does
This season's heatHotter than usual — about +1.7 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can.
What that supportsenough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season
Ground this coversOne kind of ground throughout.

last updated 16 September 2026

Limited water holds back about 40% of yield here.

What cassava needs to grow here

Soil it likes well-drained sand or sandy loam soil
Soil sourness (pH) Happiest between pH 4.5 and 6.5
Spacing 100 cm between rows, 100 cm between plants
Feed it most with potassium and zinc

What it takes to grow cassava in Calai

Planting materialAbout 10,000 plants per hectare
Nitrogen (N)About 79 kg per hectare
Phosphate (P₂O₅)About 40 kg per hectare
Potash (K₂O)About 113 kg per hectare
In the shopsA basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established.
Hand work103–180 days per hectare, by hand

These are the nutrients a cassava crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.

What to watch for

Pest/disease risk — manageableNot enough water in season

Grow Cassava with a plan, not a guess

Everything above describes Calai as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.

Or check your field first

Cassava in nearby districts

This calendar moves

Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.

Frequently asked questions

Will cassava grow well in Calai?

Calai rates as favourable for cassava.

When should I plant cassava in Calai?

Typically 30 Oct 2026 to 19 Nov 2026, forecast-adjusted.

Is this exact for my own field?

No — these are readings taken across Calai, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.

Also worth considering in Calai

Keep going

Timing is one question. What the crop needs at every stage, what attacks it and where to sell it are the others.