Nigeria Gets Improved Cassava Varieties
Four improved cassava varieties (NR 01/0004, CR 41-10, TMS 00/0203, and TMS 01/0040) were released recently by the Nigerian government. TMS 00/0203 and TMS 01/0040 were bred by scientists from Ibadan-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA); while NR 01/0004 and CR 41-10 were bred by Umudike-based National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) and the Colombian-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), respectively.
These varieties performed well in terms of yield and pest resistance in on-farm prerelease trials in eight states in the country. The average yield observed was 31 tons per hectare, compared to the 26 t/ha yield of the local varieties. "The release of the varieties is good news for Nigerian farmers in particular and African farmers in general," says Dr. Peter Kulakow, IITA Cassava Breeder.
More on this news can be seen at http://www.iita.org/news-feature-asset/-/asset_publisher/B3Bm/content/nigeria-gets-improved-cassava-varieties?redirect=%2Fnews.
This article is part of the Crop Biotech Update, a weekly summary of world developments in agri-biotech for developing countries, produced by the Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, International Service for the Aquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications SEAsiaCenter (ISAAA)
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