Bill Gates fights cassava disease in Africa

  1. Posted on Wednesday 13 January 2010 - 13:00
    mugira
    Image of mugira
    Mugira, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda
    The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has issued a grant of US$2.4 million to various organizations to identify and use molecular markers for faster and more accurate breeding of cassava varieties resistant to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).
    Cassava molen. Foto: Kees Berkman
    These organizations include the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its partners the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), Tanzania, and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Uganda.

    The disease which is one of greatest threats to food security in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by the Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV). It results in a dry rot in the tuberous roots rendering them inedible. Cassava is an important staple food in Sub Saharan African from which over 200 million people and derive over 50% of their carbohydrate intake.

    International Institute of Tropical Agriculture said the four-year project aims to identify the DNA markers associated with the resistance genes in these varieties and integrate marker-assisted selection into cassava breeding programs.

    Marker-assisted breeding will enable the breeders to determine whether or not the desired genes of CBSD resistance have been successfully transferred from the parents to the offspring at the seedling stage using DNA testing.

    According to Dr. Morag Ferguson, an IITA scientist and team project leader, breeding for disease-resistant cassava is the most cost-effective and sustainable way to control the devastating effects of the virus.

    However, conventional breeding takes 8 to 12 years to produce improved varieties. "The use of molecular markers can reduce this time by allowing selection earlier on in the breeding cycle and by increasing the accuracy of selection. It is like using a magnet in a game of \'find the needle in the haystack," she says.

    "This project will enable one of the first applications of marker-assisted selection for cassava breeding by the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in Tanzania and Uganda. The markers identified will also be applicable to all countries either struggling with the disease, or concerned with pre-breeding in anticipation of the spread of the virus" she stresses.

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