{"id":13086,"date":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/nigeria-releases-improved-cassava-varieties-to-boost-productivity\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:43:08","slug":"nigeria-releases-improved-cassava-varieties-to-boost-productivity","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/nigeria-releases-improved-cassava-varieties-to-boost-productivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria releases improved cassava varieties to boost productivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image_gallery-33.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9838\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image_gallery-33.jpg\" alt=\"Image\" width=\"250\" height=\"170\" \/><\/a>Nigeria has released two improved cassava varieties in an effort to maintain its lead as the world\u2019s largest producer of the root crop  and improve incomes of farmers.\n\nThe varieties were developed through a collaborative effort between the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)  and the Nigerian Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike. The two varieties are originally recognized as IITA-developed genotypes: IITA-TMS-I982132  and IITA-TMS-I011206. But with the official release, they are now known as UMUCASS 42  and UMUCASS 43, respectively.\n\n\u201cBoth varieties performed well in different cassava production regions of Nigeria with high yield, high dry matter,  and good disease resistance. The roots of these varieties are yellow  and contain moderate levels of pro-vitamin A,\u201d says Dr Peter Kulakow, IITA Cassava Breeder.\n\nThe potential maximum yield of the two varieties is between 49  and 53 tons per hectare, according to pre-varietal release trials that were conducted between 2008  and 2010. Local varieties produce less than 10 tons per hectare. The varieties are also resistant to major pests  and diseases that affect cassava in the country including cassava mosaic disease, cassava bacterial blight, cassava anthracnose, cassava mealybug,  and cassava green mite.\n\nDr Chiedozie Egesi, NRCRI Cassava Breeder, who presented the varieties before the Nigeria Varietal Release committee\u2014the body in charge of officially releasing varieties\u2014said the varieties have the following distinct qualities:\n<ol>\n \t<li>Good for high quality cassava flour\u2014a sought-after trait by researchers for the cassava transformation agenda in Nigeria.<\/li>\n \t<li>High dry matter which is positively related to starch  and crucial for cassava value chain development<\/li>\n \t<li>High leaf retention which is positively related to drought tolerance  and is crucial for cassava production in the drier regions  and in mitigating the impact of climate change,  and<\/li>\n \t<li>Moderate levels of betacarotene for enhancing nutrition.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nOver the years, cassava has been transformed from being a \u201cpoor man\u2019s\u201d crop to a cash  and an industrial crop, as it is now processed to products such as starch, flour, glucose,  and ethanol. This transition has increased the dem and for this root crop.\n\nResearchers say developing new improved varieties is one way of boosting the steady supply of cassava roots for value chain development  and for industry.\n\nAccording to Dr Egesi, continuous breeding of such improved new varieties will help in stabilizing production, processing,  and marketing of cassava products.\n\n\u201cThe impact of these efforts will be felt in areas such as rural employment  and a vibrant cassava industrial sector,\u201d he added. ###\n\nFor more information, please contact:\n\nGodwin Atser, <a>g.atser@cgiar.org<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria has released two improved cassava varieties in an effort to maintain its lead as the world\u2019s largest producer of the root crop and improve incomes of farmers&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[32],"news-type":[],"hub":[],"crop":[66],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[191],"class_list":["post-13086","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","hentry","location-nigeria","crop-cassava","item-year-191"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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