Researchers to Improve the Nutritional Content of Cassava

Cassava, Manihot esculenta is the primary food source for nearly 700 million people worldwide and is the most important food crop in Africa. It provides a good source of starch, but is lacking in protein and other nutrients. The Agricultural Research Service of the USDA has announced the launch of BioCassava Plus, a five-year, $7.5-million research project involving ten institutions. The project, to be lead by Ohio State University, will develop new varieties of cassava with higher nutrient levels, greater shelf life, and resistance to geminivirus, a serious pest of the crop.

Biotechnology methods will be used to develop new cultivars, which will later be released for continued breeding work. After development of the new cultivars in the United States they will be field tested in Kenya, Nigeria and Puerto Rico. Human trials on the nutritional quality of the plants will be conducted at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Genetically modified crops have been a source of controversy, in part because the firms that have developed the technologies maintain rights to the plants to ensure profits. This project is being undertaken to help feed the world's poor. Cassava is propagated by cuttings, so once the new plants are distributed there will be no need to purchase seeds or new starts each year.

Links:

• Scientists Improve Nutrition Value of Critical African Crop from allAfrica.com



• ARS to be Part of New Team Improving Cassava from the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture



• New project to help improve the diet of the world's poor from innovations report



• Researchers Get to the Root of Cassava's Cyanide-Producing Abilities from Ohio State Research News. Cyanide content is another serious issue of cassava being worked on by scientists at OSU involved with BioCassava Plus.



• Cassava - general information on the crop from Wikipedia



• Cassava - crop fact sheets from the Centre for New Crops and Plant Products, Purdue University



• Cassava Information Network from the Cassava and Starch Technology Research Unit

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 6:34 PM on July 29, 2005

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