The USAID-funded Action to Control Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo project, on 15 June, hosted a Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) to evaluate the CBSD-tolerant cassava clones currently on trial. The PVS took place in the Ruzizi Plain, with farmers invited to participate.
IITA is implementing the project in partnership with the National Institute for Agronomic Study and Research (INERA) to counter CBSD, a disease that causes significant damage to cassava production in DRC. This evaluation follows five years of breeding research at four different stations. At year 3 of the project, most of the best-bet improved varieties grown in the country, in addition to the best-selected clones at the end of the breeding scheme, were subjected to high-pressure CBSD stress in four different locations. Out of the 30 cassava genotypes evaluated that year, only seven were CBSD-tolerant in the fields.