Sree Jaya
Released in 1998 by ICAR-CTCRI. Erect and non-branching, 6-7 months, 26-30 t/ha, 24-27% starch and excellent cooking quality. The conical tubers have brown skin, purple rind and white flesh.
Quick facts
- Type
- Stem cutting (clonal selection)
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 6-7 months
- Expected yield
- 26-30 t/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No disease score published
- Release
- Released 1998 · ICAR-CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram (selection from an indigenous germplasm accession)
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Sree Jaya was released by ICAR-CTCRI in 1998, as a selection from an indigenous germplasm accession. CTCRI describes an erect, non-branching plant with a reddish-brown mature stem and conical tubers with brown skin, purple rind and white flesh. It matures in 6-7 months, gives 26-30 t/ha and holds 24-27% starch, and its cooking quality is excellent. CTCRI recommends it for Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and the ISTI portal describes it as especially suitable for lowland as a rotation crop in paddy-based cropping. In a farmer-field programme in Thrissur and Wayanad districts (Muthuraj and others, Journal of Root Crops 47, 2021), Sree Jaya did best of the improved varieties, with 12 kg of tubers a plant on one farm.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Sree Jaya if cooking quality is the priority and you can use a 6-7 month crop in a rice-based rotation on lowland. Expect 26-30 t/ha and 24-27% starch. If you want more starch from a similar crop, Sree Vijaya has 27-30% and a record of Cercospora leaf spot tolerance. For a heavier crop that takes 9-10 months, choose Sree Rekha or Sree Pavithra.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeMay-June with the south-west monsoon, or September-October with the north-east monsoon; December-January if irrigated (CTCRI)
- Spacing75 x 75 cm for non-branching types such as Sree Jaya, which takes about 3,600 stems for a hectare (CTCRI)
- Sowing methodCut setts of 15-20 cm with 10-12 buds from mature, healthy stems 2-3 cm thick, discard the woody base and soft tip, and plant them vertically 5 cm deep, one sett to a mound or ridge (CTCRI).
- FertilizerCTCRI: 12.5 t/ha FYM and 100:50:100 kg N:P2O5:K2O as the general dose. After rice, short-duration cassava such as Sree Jaya takes 90:0:85 kg NPK from a soil test.
- Harvesting6-7 months after planting (CTCRI).
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
- Matures in 6-7 months and suits lowland rotation with paddy (CTCRI and ISTI portal).
- Excellent cooking quality, which is the point of a table variety.
Things to consider
- Starch of 24-27% is lower than Sree Vijaya (27-30%) and the 9-10 month lines, so it is not a starch-mill choice.
- The 12 kg a plant was from one farm. The mean across Mattathur farms was 5.4 kg a plant, and no disease score is published.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
What a Kerala farm programme showed
Most of what is known about Sree Jaya comes from CTCRI's own description. One paper puts it in farmers' fields. Muthuraj and others (Journal of Root Crops 47, 2021) gave planting material of Sree Jaya, Sree Vijaya, Sree Pavithra and two CTCRI lines (CTM 820 and CTM 806) to 150 farmers, 100 at Mattathur in Thrissur and 50 at Vellamunda in Wayanad, in 2014-16. Each grew 10 cents under rain with CTCRI scientists advising.
At Mattathur, in the northern laterite zone with 2,795 to 3,217 mm of rain, farmers averaged 5.40 kg of tubers a plant and 6.3 tubers a plant, which the paper converts to 66.67 t/ha. At Vellamunda, a cooler plateau with 2,659 mm, the averages were 3.70 kg and 4.67 tubers, or 45.68 t/ha. The paper blames low temperature for the 31% drop, and says Sree Jaya did best of the improved varieties, with 12 kg a plant on one farm.
Read these as a guide, not a promise. The plants were from several varieties, the farms were tiny, and the best plant was a single farm. But they do show that the same variety can give very different yields within one state, which is why temperature and planting material matter as much as the name. The farmers also multiplied the stems: 6 ha gave 1.5 lakh stems, enough for 60 ha.
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-226 | 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 Jayathis page | 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
How does Sree Jaya differ from Sree Vijaya?
Both were released in 1998 and both suit lowland rotation with rice. Sree Jaya is erect and non-branching, with brown skin, purple rind and white flesh, 26-30 t/ha, 24-27% starch and excellent cooking quality. Sree Vijaya is erect and branching, with cream rind and light-yellow flesh, 25-28 t/ha and 27-30% starch.
How many plants go in a hectare?
CTCRI puts non-branching types such as Sree Jaya at 75 x 75 cm. TNAU counts 17,777 setts a hectare at that spacing. CTCRI says the planting material needed is about 3,600 stems for a hectare at 75 x 75 cm, since each stem is cut into several setts.
What did Kerala farmers get from the improved varieties?
In a CTCRI programme (Journal of Root Crops 47, 2021) farmers in Mattathur, Thrissur, averaged 5.40 kg of tubers a plant, which the paper converts to 66.67 t/ha, and farmers in Vellamunda, Wayanad, averaged 3.70 kg a plant, or 45.68 t/ha. The crop was rainfed and mixed several varieties, Sree Jaya among them. The paper blames the cold at Wayanad for the 31% drop.
When do I plant Sree Jaya, and what fertiliser does it take?
CTCRI says May-June or September-October, and December-January if irrigated. The general dose is 12.5 t/ha FYM and 100:50:100 kg N:P2O5:K2O, with all the phosphorus and half the nitrogen and potash at planting and the rest at 45-60 days. After rice, short-duration cassava takes 90:0:85 kg NPK from a soil test.
When is Sree Jaya ready to harvest?
CTCRI and the ISTI portal both give 6-7 months. TNAU's signs of ripeness apply to cassava in general: the leaves turn yellow, about half of them dry and fall, and the soil cracks near the base of the stem.
Sourced from: Cassava (variety descriptions) — ICAR-CTCRI, Agrotechniques of Tropical Tuber Crops, Technical Bulletin No. 97 — ICAR-CTCRI, 2023, Performance of improved varieties of cassava in two agroecological units of Kerala — Muthuraj and others, Journal of Root Crops 47(1&2), 2021, Cassava-Sree Jaya — India Science, Technology and Innovation portal, 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.