Abstract:

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important food security crop in many parts of the
developing world. The crop’s high yield potential and multitude of uses–both for nutrition and
processing–render cassava a promising driver for the development of rural value chains. It is
traditionally propagated from stem cuttings of up to 30 cm in length, giving a multiplication
rate as low as 1:10. Propagating cassava traditionally is very inefficient, which leads to chal
lenges in the production and distribution of quality planting material and improved cultivars,
greatly limiting the impact of investments in crop breeding. The work described in the present
study aimed to develop a seed treatment approach to facilitate the use of shorter seed
pieces, increasing the multiplication rate of cassava and thus making the crop’s seed sys
tems moreefficient. After several tests, formulation was identified, consisting of thia
methoxam 21gha-1
, mefenoxam1.0 gha-1
, fludioxonil 1.3 g ha-1-1
, thiabendazole 7.5 g ha
and Latex 2%asabinder. Plant growing from seed pieces treated with this formulation dis
played increased crop establishment and early crop vigor, leading to an improved productivity
throughout a full growing cycle. This allowed to reduce the cassava seed piece size to 8 cm
with no negative effects on germination and crop establishment, leading to yields comparable
to those from untreated 16 cm pieces. This, in turn, will allow to increase the multiplication
ratio of cassava by a factor of up to 3. Notably, this was possible under regular field conditions
and independently of any specialised treatment facilities. Compared with existing seed pro
duction protocols, the increased multiplication rates allowed for efficiency gains of between 1
to 1.9 years compared to conventional five-year cycles. We believe that the technology
described here holds considerable promise for developing more reliable and remunerative
delivery channels for quality cassava planting material and improved genetics