{"id":17320,"date":"2026-06-20T12:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T17:43:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:43:40","slug":"landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"Disease resistance trials being conducted simultaneously in 33 different locations across 5 African countries and involving 25 shared varieties \u2013 a first-of-its-kind multi-country collaborative cassava breeding initiative in East and Southern Africa \u2013 are showing promise against the deadly Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD).\n<div id=\"attachment_1039\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1039 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg\" alt=\"Picture of Clean Seed to Combat CBSD and CMD Project (5CP) team visiting the trials in Tanzania.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"485\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1039\" \/><\/a>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1039\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">5CP team visiting the trials in Tanzania.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThis was highlighted during a stakeholders\u2019 meeting of th<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/2012-press-releases\/-\/asset_publisher\/CxA7\/content\/tanzania-gates-foundation-and-partners-launch-3-new-initiatives-to-tackle-deadly-cassava-disease\/?redirect=%2F2012-press-releases#.V5nOeaL0egE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">e New Cassava Varieties and Clean Seed to Combat CBSD and CMD Project (5CP)<\/a>\u00a0project, under which the trials are being undertaken, held recently in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.\n\nThe project is funded by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gatesfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fondation Bill &amp; Melinda Gates<\/a>\u00a0and led by IITA working in collaboration with the national agricultural research systems of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia where the trials are being conducted. The 5CP project is in its final year of implementation.\n\nThis landmark regional initiative is aimed at speeding-up the breeding of cassava varieties with dual resistance to CMD and CBSD in the five countries where the diseases are of great concern.\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/kanju-edward\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Edward Kanju<\/a>, IITA cassava breeder and coordinator of the 5CP project, reported that preliminary results of the trials have already shown that several of the new varieties are virtually unaffected by CBSD and CMD, even in locations where disease pressure is extremely high from infected fields surrounding the trials.\n\n\u201cAlthough in many of the countries the varieties are undergoing their first year of trials, our initial results are already showing good promise. We will further validate the performance of these varieties by comparing them to local ones that have been selected as checks,\u201d he explained.\n\nIn these trials, 25 cassava varieties contributed by and shared among the five countries are simultaneously being evaluated in multiple locations under high-disease pressure field conditions. The planting materials being used in the trials underwent a rigorous clean-up exercise to ensure they are virus-free before being distributed as tissue culture plantlets.\n\nEach of the countries selected five of its best varieties in terms of performance against CMD and CBSD and shared them for the inter-country trials. This is the first time that breeders in the five countries have freely shared their best varieties in a concerted effort to tackle the two deadly diseases.\n\nThe virus cleaning was carried out by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate (KEPHIS). The material was forwarded to Genetics Technologies International Limited (GTIL), a commercial tissue culture company, for mass multiplication. The plantlets were then certified virus-free by the Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) and IITA.\n\nAt the meeting, James Legg, IITA virologist, highlighted another objective of the 5CP Project, which is the establishment of pilot clean seed distribution system in Tanzania. Legg is leading this activity.\n\n\u201cWe are perfecting the cassava seed systems in Tanzania through a three-step approach: virus indexing, then rapid multiplication at a research station, and finally large-scale multiplication at a clean site in an area with low disease pressure.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe have established clean seed sites in Mtwopa (Mtwara), Mwele (Tanga), Hombolo (Dodoma), and Nkenge\n(Kagera) in Tanzania\u2019s cassava-growing heartland. They are routinely monitored and carefully managed. I am happy to report that there have been very low incidences of CMD and CBSD in these sites.\u201d\n\n\u201cMoreover, the sites are now being used by the Tanzania Root and Tuber Research Programme to produce quality planting material of new, popular, and disease-resistant varieties such as Mkuranga 1, Chereko, Kipusa, and Kizimbani, as well as some of the older favorites, such as Mkombozi, Kiroba, and Mumba,\u201d added Legg.\n\nAnother project development reported at the meeting is the establishment of rapid multiplication systems for mini-plants derived from virus-indexed tissue culture plantlets.\n\nKiddo Mtunda, cassava researcher and Officer-in-Charge of the Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI) in Kibaha, is spearheading this work. By using these rapid propagation techniques in screenhouses, she and her team have been able to produce thousands of cassava plants in a matter of months.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Disease resistance trials being conducted simultaneously in 33 different locations across 5 African countries and involving 25 shared varieties<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":17321,"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":[27],"news-type":[],"hub":[62],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[194],"class_list":["post-17320","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-tanzania","hub-eastern-africa","item-year-194"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Disease resistance trials being conducted simultaneously in 33 different locations across 5 African countries and involving 25 shared varieties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IITA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T17:43:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"485\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@IITA_CGIAR\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/\",\"name\":\"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Viral.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-20T12:56:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-29T17:43:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Viral.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1024_Viral.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":485},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/news-item\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"IITA\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png\",\"width\":1788,\"height\":591,\"caption\":\"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iita.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/IITA.CGIAR\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/IITA_CGIAR\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/iita\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/IITAPUBLISHING\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA","og_description":"Disease resistance trials being conducted simultaneously in 33 different locations across 5 African countries and involving 25 shared varieties","og_url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/","og_site_name":"IITA","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","article_modified_time":"2026-06-29T17:43:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":485,"url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@IITA_CGIAR","twitter_misc":{"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/","name":"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases - IITA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-20T12:56:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-29T17:43:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1024_Viral.jpg","width":1024,"height":485},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/landmark-regional-crop-breeding-trials-show-promise-against-deadly-cassava-viral-diseases\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/iita.org\/news-item\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Landmark regional crop breeding trials show promise against deadly cassava viral diseases"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","name":"IITA","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iita.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#organization","name":"Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IITA-Logo-finalll.png","width":1788,"height":591,"caption":"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iita.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IITA.CGIAR","https:\/\/x.com\/IITA_CGIAR","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/iita","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/IITAPUBLISHING"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22569,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/17320\/revisions\/22569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=17320"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=17320"}],"curies":[{"name":"bien jou\u00e9","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}