1. Redesigning Cassava
for Tomorrow’s Demands

2. Global trends for world’s most important food crops
Change in 30 years, to 2009 (%)
Production
Harvested
Yield
area
Cassava
Maize
Rice
Wheat
Millet
Potato
Barley
Sorghum
Sweet potato
Oats
Source: FAOSTAT 2012
101
95
81
61
32
10
-3
-5
-22
-45
44
29
14
-1
-5
-5
-35
-1
-27
-60
40
52
60
63
39
12
48
-4
6
37

3. .
Typical Agro- and Market Environment for Cassava
•
•
•
•
•
Low soil fertility
Drought-prone areas
Sloped lands
Low access to roads and markets
Product options limited in many areas

4. But the crop also can respond to good
management to produce very high yields

5. Cassava for modern times
Opportunities
•
•
•
Resilience in multiple environments
Diverse new market options
Under-exploited genetic diversity
Challenges
•
•
•
•
•
Uncertainties of climate change
Soil fertility maintenance and erosion control
Pest and disease management
Production systems for clean planting material
Trait development tailored to new markets

6. Is cassava the answer for climate
change adaptation?
Based on the EcoCrop model: Cassava will respond
positively in many current regions of planting
Ceballos et al. 2011
Jarvis et al. in press

7. The genebank:
Our main source of genetic variability
More than 6,000
accessions plus 1000
acessions of 30 wild
species

9. Frequency of
major cassava
pests across
continents
Pest category
Americas Africa
Whiteflies
Mealybugs
Root mealybugs
Mites
Scale insects
White grubs
Termites
Thrips
Leafhoppers
Grasshoppers
Shootflies
Stemborers
Lacebugs
Burrower bugs
Hornworm
Tiger moth
Army worm
Gall midge
Dried cassava
Asia
11
6
2
30
8
6
2
5
3
2
3
12
4
3
2
2
3
1
5
Total
3
3
2
13
7
3
2
1
0
4
0
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
3
6
0
15
3
5
1
5
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
110
48
47

10. Challenges and risks of
intensifying cassava production
Low intensity, stable
traditional production
Bacterial Blight in southern Brazil: results of
poorly planned rapid scale-up

11. Preparing for new challenges
of biotic constraints
Climate change models suggest
that the greatest impact on cassava
will be from biotic constraints, and
much less from abiotic (drought;
higher temperatures)

12. A recent example of new pest introduction
Cassava Mealybug in
Thailand, March 2010

13. Anagyrus lopezi

14. Asia: Cassava Witches’ broom
 Identification and characterization
 Monitoring of spread and impact
 Training 14 Asian scientists
 Implementation and validation of
management strategies
 Kit development for on-farm
detection

15. CIAT Roles
1. RISK ASSESSMENT: Lead a global assessment of
threats from cassava pests
2. SURVEILLANCE: Establish comprehensive
surveillance and monitoring with national and
international partners
3. MANAGEMENT: Establish or strengthen core
capacities to meet global pest management needs
4. CAPACITY BUILDING: sustainable capacity to
respond to pest challenges

16. Value-added traits for new markets
• Amylose-free (waxy): multiple food
and industrial applications
• Small granule starch: rapid
hydrolysis for ethanol industry
• High β-carotene: for Vitamin A
deficit areas
• Forage varieties: adding an animal
component into small-holder
systems

17. Some characteristics of cassava starch
important for the food industry
Source
Maize
Rice
Potato
Cassava
Waxy maize
Waxy Rice
Waxy Potato
Waxy Cassava
Storage
stability
(4°C)
*
***
*
***
***
***
**
***
Freeze/thaw
stability
(18°C)
*
*
*
**
**
***
**
***
Clarity
*
*
***
**
**
*
***
***
Taste
Cereal
Cereal
None
None
Cereal
Cereal
None
None
• = low acceptability
** = medium acceptability
*** = high acceptability
Source: Sánchez T., Dufour D., Moreno I. X., Ceballos H. (2010). Comparison of Pasting and Gel Stabilities of Waxy and Normal
Starches from Potato, Maize, and Rice with Those of a Novel Waxy Cassava Starch under Thermal, Chemical, and Mechanical
Stress. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 58, 5093–5099. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf1001606

18. Introduction of an animal component into
smallholder systems is one of the best ways to
improve household nutritional status
• Direct feeding of surplus root production
• Feeding of leaves and young stems
• Feeding of residues of processing (peels, fiber, starch
residues)

19. Progress in breeding for total carotenoids content
(A nutritional goal of 15 µg/g established in 2005)

20. Progress in breeding for total carotenoids content
(A nutritional goal of 15 µg/g established in 2005)
30
TCC (µg/ g)
25
y = 2.346x + 8.6995
R2 = 0.7763
Maximum
20
15
Average
10
5
Minimum
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
Year
2009
2010

21. Some current projects
in molecular analysis
High b-Carotene
Whitefly resistance
Tolerance to
post-harvest
deterioration
Drought tolerance

22. Summary: Cassava’s Redesign
o Transition from low-value commodity crop to diverse and higher
level value chains
o Protect the crop from the current biotic threats trans-boundary
movement
o High yielding and high quality varieties
o Management systems to reduce production costs (e.g. labor use)
o Integrate molecular and traditional breeding approaches
o Adapt to climate change (pests and diseases, practices to conserve
soil water)
o Policies and systems that provide better income while protecting
the environment
Train a new generation of scientists!

23. Working together for a New Future for cassava
growers in Asia -- through a growing
interdisciplinary team in Hanoi with close
linkages to CIAT-Colombia

24. CIAT: Science to Cultivate Change
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