The variety, Event 4046, is resistant to cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and will help boost production and improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers through increased income. The disease-resistant variety cassava was developed by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro). The Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa Plus (VIRCA Plus) project, is a collaborative programme consisting of virologists, plant physiologists, breeders, biotechnologists, molecular biologists, agronomists, regulatory scientists, communication and management. They are Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), where you get crinkling of the leaves and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), where you get streaks of brown on the cassava and malformation of the roots. She explains: “We took our improved cassava with resistant cassava brown streak disease and crossed it with farmer-preferred variety that had latent cassava mosaic disease resistance.

Source: Standard Digital August 02, 2021 07:52 UTC