Abstract
Cassava is a key food security crop in Central Africa, but its production depends largely on the use of local farmers’ varieties characterized by inherently low yield which is compounded by generally high susceptibility to various growth and yield-limiting pests and diseases. Improved cassava genotypes have demonstrated the potential to substantially improve cassava’s contribution to food security and the development of the cassava industry and the improvement of nutrition status elsewhere in Western Africa. Eleven improved cassava genotypes were compared with a local landrace (LMR) used as a check under field conditions over two years in eight locations, grouped in four agro-ecologies in Cameroon. Pest and disease abundance/incidence and damage severity were evaluated. At harvest, root yield and carotenoid content were measured. Best linear unbiased predictors showed the lowest breeding value for LMR with the cassava mosaic virus disease (+ 66.40 ± 2.42) compared with 1.00 ± 0.02% for the most susceptible improved genotype. Two genotypes (I010040-27 and I011797) stood out for having higher predicted fresh root yield means which were at least 16 times greater compared with LMR. Predicted total carotenoid content was the highest (+ 5.04 ± 0.17) for improved genotype I070593 compared with LMR which showed the lowest (− 3.90 ± 0.06%) and could contribute to the alleviation of vitamin A deficiency from cassava-based food systems. Diffusion of high-yielding and nutritious genotypes could alleviate food and nutritional security in Central Africa.
Highlights
Cassava is a key food security crop in Central Africa, but its production depends largely on the use of local farmers’ varieties characterized by inherently low yield which is compounded by generally high susceptibility to various growth and yield-limiting pests and diseases
Cassava is resistant to adverse environments[19]; its production in Cameroon and elsewhere— in Central Africa—is constrained by heavy yield losses from pests and diseases among which are: (1) cassava mosaic virus disease (CMD) transmitted largely by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (G.) and by infected cassava stems used as vegetative propagules; (2) cassava anthracnose disease (CAD) caused by the fungus Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc. and vectored by Pseudotheraptus devastans Dist
In a previous s tudy[8], we evaluated a set of 18 cassava genotypes, mostly oriented toward industrial processing, across eight environments in Cameroon to assess the level of stability of their yield and pest and disease resistance
Summary
Cassava is a key food security crop in Central Africa, but its production depends largely on the use of local farmers’ varieties characterized by inherently low yield which is compounded by generally high susceptibility to various growth and yield-limiting pests and diseases. Predicted total carotenoid content was the highest (+ 5.04 ± 0.17) for improved genotype I070593 compared with LMR which showed the lowest (− 3.90 ± 0.06%) and could contribute to the alleviation of vitamin A deficiency from cassava-based food systems. Biofortification of staple food crops like cassava has been advocated as one of the cost-effective solutions to combat the scourge of micronutrient malnutrition[25] and for sustainable improvement in the lives of millions of people in developing countries, in Africa and South A sia[25,26,27]
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