H-226
A hybrid released in 1971 by ICAR-CTCRI (Ethakkakaruppan x M-4). The ISTI portal calls it the most popular industrial cassava in Tamil Nadu. About 10 months, 30-35 t/ha, 28-30% starch.
Quick facts
- Type
- Stem cutting (industrial hybrid)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 10 months (CTCRI and ISTI portal)
- Expected yield
- 30-35 t/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- Tolerant to spider mite and scale insect (review table); no mosaic resistance is claimed
- Release
- Released 1971 · ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram (Ethakkakaruppan x M-4)
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
H-226 is a hybrid of Ethakkakaruppan and M-4, released by ICAR-CTCRI in 1971. CTCRI describes a medium-tall, erect, branching plant with a grey mature stem and cylindrical tubers: creamy skin with purplish patches, light pink rind and white flesh. It takes 10 months, gives 30-35 t/ha and holds 28-30% starch. The ISTI portal calls it the most popular industrial variety of cassava in Tamil Nadu, with medium-tall plants of 1.5 to 2 m. TNAU uses H 226 as a check in its trials: its YTP 1 gave 58.38% more tuber yield than H 226, and YTP 2 gave 29.85% more. TNAU has also fixed a meristem-culture method to clear virus from H 226 and MVD 1.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose H-226 if you supply a starch or sago unit in Tamil Nadu and can keep the land for 10 months. The ISTI portal calls it the most popular industrial cassava in the state, and its starch of 28-30% is higher than H-165 (23-25%). Choose H-165 for a shorter crop. If mosaic disease is a problem on your farm, look at YTP 2, Sree Reksha or Sree Kaveri, because H-226 carries no mosaic resistance.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeTamil Nadu: all year with irrigation, and April for a rainfed crop (TNAU). Kerala: May-June or September-October (CTCRI)
- Spacing90 x 90 cm for branching types such as H-226 (CTCRI). TNAU: 75 x 75 or 90 x 90 cm irrigated, 60 x 60 cm rainfed
- Sowing methodTNAU: cut setts of 15 cm with 8-10 nodes from the middle of a mosaic-free stem, dip them in carbendazim (1 g in a litre of water) for 15 minutes, and plant them vertically on the sides of ridges and furrows, buds up.
- FertilizerTNAU, irrigated: 25 t/ha FYM, then 45:90:120 kg N:P2O5:K2O as basal and 45 kg N with 120 kg K2O at 90 days. TNAU, rainfed: 12.5 t/ha FYM with 50 kg N, 65 kg P and 125 kg K as basal.
- HarvestingAbout 10 months (CTCRI). TNAU: tubers are ready when the leaves turn yellow, about half of them have dried and fallen, and the soil cracks near the stem base.
Soil & climate
Soil
- Suitable soil
- Well-drained loam; saline, alkaline and ill-drained soils are not suitable, and cassava cannot thrive on waterlogged soil (CTCRI)
- pH
- 5-7 (CTCRI)
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- The most popular industrial cassava in Tamil Nadu, so planting material and a buyer are easy to find (ISTI portal).
- Starch of 28-30% is higher than H-165 (23-25%).
Things to consider
- Takes 10 months, so the land is held longer than for H-165 (8 months) or the 6-7 month table types.
- No mosaic resistance is claimed. TNAU names YTP 2, Sree Reksha and Sree Kaveri as the mosaic-resistant choices.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Tamil Nadu
- Kerala
- Andhra Pradesh
- Karnataka
Clean planting material for H-226
Cassava is grown from stem pieces, so any disease in the mother plant goes into the next field. TNAU says to select healthy, mosaic-free, vigorous plants for planting material, and to avoid damaging the stem when cutting. Dip the setts in carbendazim, 1 g in a litre of water, for 15 minutes before planting.
TNAU has also worked out how to clear virus from two varieties, H 226 and MVD 1, by meristem culture. The growing tip is grown on a medium with BAP at 0.1 mg a litre, rooted on a medium without growth regulators, hardened for 10-15 days in a mist chamber and 10 days under shade net, and then moved to the field. This is done in a laboratory, so a farmer's part is to ask for planting material that came from such plants.
The virus travels with the whitefly, so TNAU pairs clean setts with whitefly control: remove weed hosts such as Abutilon indicum, put up 12 yellow sticky traps a hectare, keep nitrogen moderate, avoid extra irrigation and do not leave the crop in the field beyond its duration. For H-226, with no mosaic resistance of its own, these steps carry the weight.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is raised from cuttings, not from seed, so you can take your own planting material. Take cuttings only from healthy, well-grown plants that are true to the variety, and never from one that showed disease — a cutting carries its mother plant with it. Where a nursery or a government farm sells clean planting material, that is the safer start.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Tapioca (Cassava) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-165 | Tamil Nadu, 8-month industrial | 8 months (CTCRI); 8-9 months (ISTI portal) | 33-38 t/ha | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka |
| H-226this page | Starch and sago, Tamil Nadu | 10 months (CTCRI and ISTI portal) | 30-35 t/ha | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka |
| H-97 | Dry-land farms in four southern states that want a drought-tolerant, high-starch, long-tested variety for factory sale | 10 months (CTCRI bulletin and Indian Horticulture 2025) | 25-35 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin, web page and Indian Horticulture 2025) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh |
| Sree Apoorva | Starch-factory farms in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh that want a stable, high extractable starch triploid | 10 months (CTCRI bulletin) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 37.60 t/ha (CTCRI web page) | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala |
| Sree Athulya | High-starch triploid, irrigated plains | 10 months (CTCRI bulletin) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI); 39.00 t/ha (ISTI portal) | Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh |
| Sree Harsha | Starch-factory farms in Kerala and Tamil Nadu that are paid by the percentage of starch | 10 months (CTCRI bulletin and Indian Horticulture 2025) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin and Indian Horticulture 2025) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Jaya | Best-cooking six-month crop | 6-7 months | 26-30 t/ha | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Kaveri | Industrial cassava farmers in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala who want mosaic resistance and a high yield | 9-10 months (CTCRI bulletin); 10 months (Indian Horticulture 2025) | 40-50 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 50 t/ha (Indian Horticulture 2025) | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala |
| Sree Padmanabha | Rainfed Kerala and irrigated Tamil Nadu farms in mosaic-prone areas that want a proven, older resistant variety | 9-10 months (CTCRI bulletin); 270-300 days (CTCRI web page) | 29-30 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 38 t/ha (CTCRI web page) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Pavithra | Low-potash soils, cooking | 9-10 months | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI); 35-45 t/ha in a review table | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Prabha | Mixed-use farms in four states that want a medium-height variety for both lowland and upland | 9-10 months (CTCRI bulletin) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh |
| Sree Prakash | Kerala lowland and paddy-rotation farms that want a quick, 7-month cassava | 7 months (CTCRI bulletin and web page) | 30-35 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin and web page) | Kerala |
| Sree Rekha | Mixed upland and lowland | 8-10 months (CTCRI variety page); 9-10 in the bulletin | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 45-48 t/ha (CTCRI variety page, review table and ISTI portal) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka |
| Sree Reksha | Kerala and Tamil Nadu farms that sell cassava to eat and want mosaic resistance and a longer shelf life after harvest | 8-9 months (CTCRI bulletin and Indian Horticulture 2025) | 40-45 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 45-50 t/ha (Indian Horticulture 2025) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Sahya | Farms in dry or mixed conditions across many states that want high starch and a dependable, old variety | 10-11 months (CTCRI bulletin, web page and Indian Horticulture 2025) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin, web page and Indian Horticulture 2025) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Andhra Pradesh |
| Sree Sakthi | Industrial cassava farms in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala where mosaic disease is severe | 9-10 months (CTCRI bulletin) | 40-45 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin) | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala |
| Sree Suvarna | Farms that want a short, mosaic-proof cassava with low cyanogen for fresh use | 7-8 months (CTCRI bulletin) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
| Sree Swarna | Kerala farms that sell cassava to eat and want a yellow-fleshed, early-bulking type | 7-8 months (CTCRI bulletin); early bulking at 7 months (CTCRI web page) | 35-40 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 40 t/ha (CTCRI web page) | Kerala |
| Sree Vijaya | Six-month crop after rice | 6 months (CTCRI variety page); 6-7 or 7 months in other CTCRI documents | 25-28 t/ha | Kerala, Tamil Nadu |
| Sree Visakham | Farms in many states, including Assam and the north-east, that want an old, widely grown, yellow-fleshed cassava | 10 months (CTCRI bulletin and web page) | 35-38 t/ha (CTCRI bulletin); 35-38 t/ha (CTCRI web page) | Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Andhra Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Tapioca (Cassava) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Tapioca (Cassava) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Tapioca (Cassava) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Tapioca (Cassava) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Tapioca (Cassava) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Tapioca (Cassava) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Is H-226 the main industrial cassava in Tamil Nadu?
The ISTI portal calls it the most popular industrial variety of cassava in Tamil Nadu, a high-yielding hybrid with medium-tall plants of 1.5 to 2 m. TNAU lists it among the popular cassava varieties, with H 165 and many others, and uses it as the check in its own trials.
How much does H-226 yield, and what is its starch?
CTCRI gives 30-35 t/ha and 28-30% starch over 10 months. TNAU puts irrigated cassava in general at 40-50 t/ha and rainfed at 20-25 t/ha, so the figure you see depends on water and management.
How do I protect H-226 from mosaic disease?
TNAU advises taking setts from healthy plants and using IPM against the whitefly that spreads the virus: remove weed hosts such as Abutilon indicum, put up yellow sticky traps (12 a hectare), use nitrogen judiciously and avoid excessive irrigation. It names YTP 2, Sree Reksha and Sree Kaveri as mosaic-resistant varieties.
How should I irrigate cassava in Tamil Nadu?
TNAU: irrigate at planting, give a life irrigation on the 3rd day, then every 7-10 days up to the 3rd month and every 20-30 days up to the 8th month, based on soil moisture. Avoid excessive irrigation, because cassava cannot stand waterlogging and tubers rot where water stands.
How does H-226 compare with the newer TNAU lines?
TNAU's Yethapur station released YTP 1 in 2013 and YTP 2 in 2020. In its trials YTP 1 gave 49.51 t/ha, which is 58.38% more than H 226, and YTP 2 gave 46.20 t/ha, 29.85% more. Their starch is 25-27% and 29.62%. Both are meant for irrigated land in districts such as Salem, Namakkal and Erode.
Sourced from: Cassava H-226 — India Science, Technology and Innovation portal, Agrotechniques of Tropical Tuber Crops, Technical Bulletin No. 97 — ICAR-CTCRI, 2023, Cassava (variety descriptions) — ICAR-CTCRI, Tapioca — TNAU Agritech Portal (YTP 1, YTP 2, irrigation, mosaic disease, virus elimination), Cassava breeding and agronomy in Asia: 50 years of history and future directions (Table 5) — Malik and others, Breeding Science, 2020, Cassava varieties developed by CTCRI — ICAR-CTCRI variety page, archived. editorial policy.