Partnering with farmers in cassava-breeding pays dividends. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Principally based on Projects R7565, R8302 and R8405. New cassava-breeding skills, and high-yielding cassava varieties which are resistant to pests and diseases—including cassava mosaic disease—are benefiting both farmers and processors in Ghana. The new varieties developed jointly with farmers yield well with few inputs in rain-fed fields. They also meet local people's preferences for taste and food preparation, and are suitable for other West African countries. Involving processors in selection too has led to high-starch varieties that farmers can find a ready market for. The new, participatory breeding method has produced these new varieties fast, in just five cycles of cropping and selection. It is also being used in Uganda and Tanzania for sweet potato, and could easily be applied to other crops like potato and yam.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Environmental Impact, Annex. Attached PDF (11 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
CPP23, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 5.