High Yield Cassava Varieties for Targeted Products and Prospect

1. High Yield Cassava Varieties for Targeted Products and Prospect Peter Kulakow, Elizabeth Parkes, Ismail Rabbi, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Chiedozie Egesi, Paul Ilona, Alfred Dixon GCP21 Integrated System for Cassava Production in Africa 28 October 2016 Contact: p.kulakow@cgiar.org

2. Overview • Cassava breeding objectives • Cassava varieties released in Nigeria • Adoption of Improved varieties • New rapid multiplication system -- SAH • Tools to increase genetic gains

3. Cassava Markets in Nigeria Boil and eat – fresh consumption Gari Other Food Products (fufu, lafun and others) Industry 1 Source: Context Network analysis based on field research, farmer interviews, and published source analysis 2 Garri: “CTA Presentation”, October 2014 3 Industrial and Other Processed Food: “Sahel Rapid Appraisal of Nigerian Markets for Cassava”, August 2013

4. Current Priority Cassava Breeding Objectives Yield • High yield of 20 t/ha under stress conditions and 60 t/ha in excellent conditions • Dry matter content above – 35% • Resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease and Cassava Brown Streak Disease • Resistance to Cassava Bacterial Blight • Drought tolerance Quality – Regional and Market Specific • White roots – high starch • Yellow roots with at least 15 µg/g fresh weight total carotenoids • Low cyanogenic potential • Poundable year round for boil and eat • Suitable for garri, fufu, starch, flour, chips • White outer skin color

5. Industry Processor Cassava Trait Preference List • Storage root weight 3 to 5 kg/plant • Storage root size • 30 – 45 cm long • 7 – 13 cm diameter • Straight root • Thin outer skin • White outer skin color • Low cyanogenic potential < 30 ppm • High starch 25 – 30% • Roots do not lose leaves in the dry season – • no drop in starch content at the on set of rains • Maintains starch in the dry season • Disease resistant • Matures in one rainy season • Roots do not become discolored after one season • Straight stems assist mechanized planting • Performs well in different climatic regions • Dry matter content above – 35% • Resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease and Cassava Brown Streak Disease • Resistance to Cassava Bacterial Blight • Drought tolerance Quality – Regional and Market Specific • White roots – high starch • Yellow roots with at least 15 µg/g fresh weight total carotenoids • Low cyanogenic potential • Poundable year round for boil and eat • Suitable for garri, fufu, starch, flour, chips • White outer skin color

6. Household head & spouses trait preference from cassava monitoring study in Nigeria –coded from qualitative question: What characteristics to you want in a cassava variety? Assessment of Gender Responsive Trait Preferences

7. Focus Group Discussion in 20 Villages In each study village, the team held one meeting with women, and a simultaneous, separate meeting with men

8. Focus Group Discussion in 20 Villages

9. Focus Group Discussion in 20 Villages

10. Gender Disaggregated Cassava Trait Preferences

11. Officially released varieties • 46 Released Cassava Varieties in Nigeria • All are suitable for gari production • 6 varieties of biofortified cassava – Vitamin A cassava

12. Best linear unbiased predictors (BLUPS) for 25 released cassava varieties in NIgeria Early TMS Varieties Pre-emptive Management of CMD Project Varieties Vitamin A Cassava Varieties

13. Adoption of improved varieties in Nigeria • Cassava Monitoring Study in Nigeria (IITA, NRCRI) • 2500 households in 16 major cassava producing states • Employed DNA fingerprinting to identify each accession by matching them to library of known improved clones and landraces • Sample size: • 7411 samples • 3891 Reference Library • Total of 11578 accessions • Supported by BMGF and RTB

14. Number of samples matching released varieties - regionwise • Predominant adopted varieties were developed prior to 2000 • Newer varieties are visible but need greater dissemination through cassava seed systems

15. Potential reasons for low occurrence of new varieties released after 2000 • Low availability of planting materials from inadequate seed system • Most common varieties have had massive dissemination investments • Unreliable markets for high yielding varieties discourage adoption • Varieties may lack preferred cassava traits compared to older varieties • Inadequate time for adoption processes for a clonal crop – 30 years versus 10 years

16. Semi-Autotrophic Hydroponics (SAH) Cassava Propagation System 1:2 multiplication in 3 - 4 weeks

17. Spread of pests and pathogens through various cassava planting material thenationonlineng.net thenationonlineng.net www.iita.org A member of CGIAR consortium

18. Breeding cycle for a clonal crop • Low multiplication rate • Long cycle time • Genomic tools can reduce cycle time and increase genetic gain

19. Breakthrough in breeding Vitamin A Cassava levels of total carotenoids > 20 µg/g fresh weight Best biofortified Cassava variety in Nigeria 12 µg/g fr. wt.

20. New populations from Genomic Selection breeding (NextGen Cassava) Annual breeding cycle using GS in cassava • Four cycles of genomic selection recombination completed (2013-2016) • Field phenotyping of the consecutive cycles ongoing • The first Uniform Yield Trial coming GS project have been established in the current growing season at four locations.

21. Genomic selection-based population improvement Boxplots showing realized selection gain (shifts in population mean) for key traits in selection index

24. Cassavabase: A global open access resource All Data Available with Open Access with agreement to observe the Toronto Protocol regarding use of unpublished data

25. Cassava Breeding Family and Partners Thank You ‘