ABSTRACT
Developing new cassava varieties: tools, techniques and strategies Hernán Ceballos, Nelson Morante, Fernando Calle, Jorge Lenis and Sandra Salazar, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia
1 Introduction
2 Cassava breeding objectives
3 Pests and diseases of cassava
4 Evaluating and selecting cassava for breeding
5 Selection index in cassava breeding
6 Phenotypic correlations of cassava traits
7 Significance of breeding value
8 Quantitative genetics of complex traits in cassava
9 Future trends
10 Conclusion
11 Where to look for further information
12 References
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a crop of significant economic and social relevance. Along with rice, maize, sugarcane and banana/plantain, it is among the most important sources of energy in the diet in many tropical countries (Burns et al., 2010). Cassava is a key food security crop in sub-Saharan Africa and in several Asian and American countries, such as Indonesia, Brazil, Paraguay and Haiti. In addition, cassava is the second most important source of starch worldwide (Stapleton, 2012); thus, it is also a key commodity for agro-industrial processes, including the production of carburant ethanol and cooking fuel (Anyanwu et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2016).
