Seeds of change In Southeast Asia, cassava is grown by over eight million farmers as a primary source of income and calories, especially among poor, rural upland communities. Despite years of research neglect and stagnating yields during the 1980s, cassava has had a dramatic come-back as a popular cash crop – but it still needs to be coupled withRead More …
By Jonathan Newby Throughout Southeast Asia, cassava has historically been considered a secondary food crop for remote upland communities. Often grown by ethnic minorities and on marginal land, the crop provided an important source of food and income, particularly in years where other crops failed due to factors such as drought. Upland farmers harvest roots as required for householdRead More …
The race is on to identify the mysterious cause of a devastating cassava disease sweeping through the region. Dozens of species of insects – thought to be the culprits for its spread – are currently being tested for traces of the disease, as researchers intensify efforts to stamp it out. Cassava witches’ broom disease is so called because ofRead More …
Vietnam’s National English Newspaper Vietnam News features an article to highlight a training initiative led by CIAT to raise awareness of new and invasive threats to cassava in the region. Top international experts from Finland, Colombia, Australia, the US and Southeast Asia discussed methods to control invasive mealybug infestation on cassava and other plants at a three-day workshop supported by theRead More …
Alarming outbreaks of two devastating cassava diseases in Africa have prompted an alliance of experts to make an unprecedented international commitment to tackle them. Members of the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21) announced plans for the sweeping set of measures to impede the spread of the flesh-eating cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic diseaseRead More …
Scientists are struggling to contain a flesh-eating virus sweeping across the cassava plantations of Africa, destined for the world’s biggest producer and consumer, Nigeria. The devastating epidemic of Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) has already made it halfway across the continent, with reports of new outbreaks in DR Congo – the world’s third largest producer – and Angola, whereRead More …
When I heard that CIAT cassava breeder Hernan Ceballos had some “very strange” cassava to show us, I didn’t waste any time in calling to clarify what he meant. He gave little away: “you have to see it.” Very soon we were in one of CIAT’s vast fields of experimental cassava. I wondered what exactly we’d find: cassava rootsRead More …
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