DFID supports Cassava Breeding Project with 10,000 pounds

KUMASI, Ghana, August 28 -- The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) is committing 10,000 pounds in support of the implementation of a participatory cassava project at Kwadaso, which would eventually help improve the quality of production of stakeholders in the cassava industry.

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Ibadan, Nigeria is implementing the project aims basically at developing and evaluating conventional and participatory approaches for breeding superior cassava varieties in Africa and Ghana in particular.

Its focus is also to investigate how farmer varieties of cassava evolve and spread as well as how farmers identify what traits of cassava to select.

Under the project farmer varieties of cassava, collected from Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria were crossed and exposed to the Africa Cassava Mosaic virus at Nkaakrom, Aworowa and the Kwodaso Agriculture Station.

Fields days are organised every three, nine and 12 months by farmers, Researchers and Extension Staff to evaluate the crops.

One of such field days was organised at the Kwadaso Agriculture Station, on Monday to finally evaluate and select the most promising cassava seedlings.

Farmers, Researchers processors and various stakeholders in the cassava business took part in the selection.

Speaking after the evaluation and selection process, Mr Joseph Manu, an Agronomist at the Crop Research Institute (CRI), explained that the participatory approach was being looked at as an alternative means of correcting some of the problems created by the conventional methods.

He noted that the situation in which only the CRI developed crop varieties without consulting of farmer would no longer be encouraged.

Mr Manu observed that it was obvious that the tendency for farmers to readily adapt and make use of newly developed varieties depended on their involvement and participation in their development, hence the introduction of the participatory approach.