Evaluation of cassava hybrids performance obtained by controlled pollination of elite accessions from Niari landscape in the Republic of Congo

Open Access Journal; Published online: 03 May 2018Cassava is the main crop in the Congo but its low yield doesn’t meet the needs of Congolese populations. The low yield is due to the use of less effective sensitive varieties to diseases, non-mastering of techniques and biotic constraint of which the African cassava mosaic. This study aims at selecting resistant genotypes to the African cassava mosaic and assessing their agronomic and production performances. Six elite accessions selected based on a villager participative approach have been crossed by controlled pollination with three clones (192/0401, 192/0325 and 197/0162) distributed by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Growth, agronomic and production parameters of genotypes from the controlled pollination were evaluated at the station. Of the ten tested genotypes, the one resulting from the crossing (Mahabama x I92/0401) did not show any symptom of the cassava mosaic disease 12 months after planting. Apart from the root length, foliar surface and the height of the plant, this genotype differed from the others only by the biomass, the diameter of the stem, the harvest index, the rate of starch, the rate of dry matter and marketable or non-marketable tuberous roots. The genotype (Mahabama x I92/0401) will be included in the cassava improvement section plan in the Republic of Congo