Bill Gates Foundation funds research on cassava disease

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and its partners in Tanzania, the Agricultural Research Institute (ARI), and in Uganda, the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), have received a grant of USD 2.4 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to identify and use molecular markers for faster and more accurate breeding of cassava varieties resistant to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).
The grant is part of the foundation's Agricultural Development initiative, which is working with a wide range of partners in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to provide millions of small farmers in the developing world with tools and opportunities to boost their yields.
A statement released in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday by IITA plant molecular geneticist based in Kenya, Dr. Morag Ferguson, said the grant would also increase the incomes of farmers.
“The foundation is working to strengthen the entire agricultural value chain - from seeds and soil to farm management and market access - so that progress against hunger and poverty is sustainable over the long term,” Dr. Ferguson said.
She said the disease, which is caused by the Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV) and results in a dry rot in the tuberous roots, rendering them inedible, was one of the greatest threats to food security in sub-Saharan Africa as cassava is an important staple food from which over 200 million people get over 50 per cent of their carbohydrate intake. Cassava is a hardy crop that does well during times of drought and in poor soils.
Dr. Ferguson said the crop required little inputs such as fertilizer and the whole plant is useful from the leaves to the roots. IITA and ARI have identified a few varieties with some level of resistance to the disease.
The four-year project aims at identifying the DNA markers associated with the resistance genes in these varieties with a view to integrating marker-assisted selection into cassava-breeding programmes.
“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. This will dramatically reduce the size of the working populations and the time taken to develop improved varieties,” she said.
According to Dr. Ferguson, breeding for disease-resistant cassava was the most cost-effective and sustainable way to control the devastating effects of the virus. She said conventional breeding took 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 said.
"This project will enable one of the first applications of marker-assisted selection for cassava breeding by the national agricultural research systems 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 said.
“Diseases like cassava brown streak have devastating impacts on small farmers in the developing world who rely on staple crops for food and income," said Lawrence Kent, a senior programme officer with the Foundation.
“By leveraging recently-discovered scientific information, this project will enable African crop breeders to create enhanced varieties of cassava that are resilient to local diseases,” he added.