Disease resistant cassava varieties

Disease-Resistant Cassava Cuttings for Higher Yields

The "Disease Resistant Cassava Varieties" technology refers to a range of cassava varieties specially selected and developed to resist the viral diseases that hamper cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular cassava mosaic and cassava brown streak. These cassava varieties have been created to address the major challenges affecting this key crop in the region. The adoption of these disease-resistant varieties offers farmers a sustainable means of protecting their cassava crops, improving yields and enhancing food security in sub-Saharan Africa. What's more, these varieties often display resistance to other common cassava pathogens, promoting integrated crop health management. Breeding and development programs continue to identify new disease-resistant cassava varieties, contributing to the sustainability of cassava production in sub-Saharan Africa.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

7•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 7/9; level of use 7/9

Project adoption4

Technology integrated in the EFPP- Guinea, ENSURE- East Africa, PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ERAVCDP- Angola projects.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
EFPP- Guinea Guinea Emergency Food Production Programme	35,750 farmers (at least 30% of whom are women). 1,650 livestock farms.	25.23 million	2022–2024	2,000 tons of rice seeds and 750 metric tons of corn. 4,845 tons of NPK fertilizer.
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.
PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
ERAVCDP- Angola Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

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Adults 18 and over: Positive high

The poor: Positive high

Under 18: No impact

Women: Positive high

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

Soil quality: Does not affect soil health and fertility

Water use: Same amount of water used

Problem

Viral Diseases Impacting Cassava: These diseases damage cassava leaves, reduce photosynthesis, and ultimately lead to significant yield losses and potential crop failure.
Ineffective Disease Control Methods: Common measures to protect cassava crops against viral pathogens do not provide a sustainable solution to the pervasive issue of viral diseases in cassava.
Yield Loss and Economic Impact: Farmers in African countries lose between 20% to 95% of cassava yields due to disease infections, valued at about US$1,200 – 2,300 million.

Solution

Development of Disease Resistant Cassava Varieties: These varieties are resistant to major diseases, which significantly reduces infection rates and yield losses, as well as prevents the rapid spread of diseases across growing areas.
Genetic Resistance Mechanisms: These genes are transferred from wild types into improved cassava varieties through conventional crossing techniques, offering a relatively cost-effective approach.
Comprehensive Disease Resistance: Many of the cassava varieties that are resistant to mosaic disease or brown streak disease also exhibit resistance to other major cassava pathogens, offering a significant advantage for integrated crop health management by farmers.

Key points to design your program

Disease-Resistant Cassava Varieties are improved cassava varieties that resist major viral diseases such as cassava mosaic disease and cassava brown streak disease, increasing yields, reducing crop losses, and improving food security. The technology can be integrated into cassava value chain development, food security, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable crop protection, and rural livelihood programs to strengthen cassava productivity and resilience. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

Assess disease prevalence, agroecological conditions, seed demand, and the capacity of cassava seed systems in target areas.
Establish partnerships with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), national agricultural research and extension services, seed multipliers, and other cassava value chain stakeholders to support technology dissemination and scaling.
Facilitate access to certified disease-resistant cassava planting materials through sustainable seed multiplication and distribution systems.
Implement demonstration plots and training for farmers, seed multipliers, cooperatives, women's groups, youth enterprises, and extension agents on healthy seed production, disease management, and recommended agronomic practices.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of disease-resistant cassava varieties and good crop management practices.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in cassava seed multiplication, nursery enterprises, and technology adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as adoption rates, availability of quality planting materials, disease incidence, cassava yields, farmer income, and seed multiplication capacity.

15—20 %

Incidences of cassava mosaic disease with resistant varieties

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 7 out of 9

Semi-controlled environment: prototype

Level of use 7 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
EFPP- Guinea Guinea Emergency Food Production Programme	35,750 farmers (at least 30% of whom are women). 1,650 livestock farms.	25.23 million	2022–2024	2,000 tons of rice seeds and 750 metric tons of corn. 4,845 tons of NPK fertilizer.
ENSURE- East Africa Enabling Environments for Sustainable Regional Agriculture Extension	3,000,000 farmers.	13.14 million	2024–2027	149,940 farmer leaders & trained farmers. 9,996 trained. 2 → 3.5 t/ha.
PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
ERAVCDP- Angola Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Benin	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Burkina Faso	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Burundi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Ethiopia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Liberia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Madagascar	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Malawi	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Mozambique	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Rwanda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Uganda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Zambia	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

Sourcing Disease Resistant Cuttings: Acquire disease-resistant cassava cuttings from reliable sources or select them from previously established disease-resistant cassava fields. Ensure that the cuttings are free from disease symptoms.
Field Preparation: Prepare the cassava field by clearing the land of weeds and debris. Ensure proper spacing and row orientation to minimize the spread of diseases.
Planting Cuttings: Depending on the climate and rainfall conditions, plant the cuttings horizontally in dry areas or vertically/angularly in humid areas.
Cover the cuttings entirely with soil to promote healthy growth.
Soil and Fertilizer Management: Adhere to recommended soil and fertilizer management practices tailored to your specific growing area and conditions. Ensure that the cassava plants receive adequate nutrients and water.
Weed Management: Implement effective weed control measures to prevent weed encroachment, which can limit cassava growth and yield.
Disease Control: Monitor the cassava field for any signs of disease. Promptly remove and destroy any infected plants to prevent disease spread.
Consider planting disease-resistant varieties on the boundaries or rows facing the prevailing wind direction to limit infections of susceptible varieties within the field.
Regular Maintenance: Regularly inspect the cassava field for any issues, including soil compaction or water limitations, and address them promptly to maintain optimal growing conditions.