Ceballos, H.

Howeler, Reinhardt H.

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 1CIAT INITIATIVES ON CASSAVA IMPROVEMENT IN ASIA  R.H. Howeler1 and H. Ceballos2  Introduction  After the initial successes in rice and wheat improvement by IRRI and CIMMYT, respectively, often referred to as the “Green Revolution”, the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) was established in Cali, Colombia, in 1969, mainly to conduct research on other crops that were considered of importance for Latin America.  The wide range of crops initially selected was soon narrowed down to four main commodities: cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), rice for Latin America and beef.  Thus, in 1972 the CIAT Cassava Program was established and a multidisciplinary team was assembled to conduct both basic and applied research on the crop.  At about the same time, in Nigeria, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) was established to work on crops of major importance in Africa, among which was cassava as well as other root and tuber crops.  CIAT was assigned the world mandate for basic research on the crop and to focus specifically on Latin America and Asia, while IITA would concentrate on specific problems in Africa, mainly the African Cassava Mosaic Virus and several insect problems.  Being near the center of origin of the crop, CIAT has assembled the world’s largest collection of cassava land-races, mainly from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and other countries in Latin America.  Once tissue culturing techniques were fully developed, this was later expanded to include local varieties from Asia, mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.  This cassava germplasm collection, held in trust at CIAT headquarters in Colombia, now has more than 6,000 accessions.  CIAT in Asia  During the 1970s, cassava in Asia started to change from being an important food crop to an industrial crop.  While cassava was never an important food crop in Thailand, the opening up of the European animal feed market for dry cassava chips meant that cassava became an important export crop for Thailand starting in the early 1970s.  Initially this was mainly starch for food and industrial purposes, followed by the export of the dried solid waste from the starch industry as an animal feed, and later the export of dry chips and pellets for the animal feed industry in Europe.  Thus, cassava production in Thailand increased from nearly nothing in the early 1970s to a major export product by the end of the decade.  In 1975 the first of several groups of Thai cassava researchers arrived at CIAT for long-term training in various disciplines of cassava research.  Later this also included researchers from other countries in Asia.  Four one-month cassava production training courses were also held at CIAT in 1978, 1980, 1985 and 1989, for groups of cassava researchers from Asia.  Altogether, 153 cassava researchers from Asia have received training in various disciplines at CIAT from 1975 to 2000.                                                  1 CIAT Cassava Office in Asia, Dept. Agriculture, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand:       r.howeler@cgiar.org 2 CIAT Cassava Project, Apartado Aereo 67-13, Cali, Colombia: h.ceballos@cgiar.org  2  The first CIAT cassava scientist to be based in Asia was Dr. Romero Obordo, who was stationed at SEARCA in Los Banos, Philippines from 1977 to 1979.  In 1978 a batch of 15 promising cassava varieties from Latin America arrived as stem cuttings in the Philippines.  After passing through plant quarantine, these were multiplied in the Philippines and later distributed for testing in Regional Trials in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.  In addition, about 50,000 hybrid seeds were sent to seven countries in Asia from 1973 to 1981.  With the establishment of cassava breeding programs in Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri lanka in the 1970s, these seeds formed the initial basis for the development of new high-yield and high-starch cassava varieties in these countries.   In 1983 Dr. Kazuo Kawano, CIAT Cassava Breeder in Colombia since 1973, was transferred to Asia and stationed at the newly established CIAT Cassava Office for Asia in Bangkok, Thailand.  In 1986 he was joined by a CIAT Cassava Soil Scientist/Agronomist, Dr. Reinhardt Howeler, who had worked in the area of plant nutrition and soil management since the inception of CIAT’s Cassava Program in 1972.  Both CIAT scientists worked directly with colleagues in the various countries in Asia, conducting collaborative research in the area of cassava genetic improvement and agronomic practices.  Initially this was focused on Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and to a lesser extent India, but in the late 1980s this collaboration expanded to include China and Vietnam.  In 1998 Dr. Kawano returned to Japan, while Dr. Howeler continued to coordinate the Asian Cassava Research Network.  This network was expanded in the early part of the 21st century to include Laos, Cambodia and East Timor.  As part of the Asian Cassava Research Network, CIAT has organized seven Regional Cassava Workshops, starting in 1984 in Thailand and alternating every three years among the major cassava producing countries in the region.  The Proceedings of these Workshop are an important historical record of the development of the cassava research programs in Asia.  The last Workshop was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2002, and the Proceedings of this Workshop will soon be published.  Cassava Breeding and the Release of New Varieties in Asia  Cassava was first introduced into Asia from Latin America, its center of origin, in the 16th and 17th century.  In Latin America the crop has been grown for at least 4000 years, while in Asia the crop is relatively new, having been grown for only about 300 years.  Thus, the genetic variability of the crop in Asia is much narrower than in Latin America, probably limited to no more than 500-600 local varieties, mainly found in Indonesia and India.  These had either been introduced from elsewhere over the years, or evolved by open pollination and farmer selection of promising seedlings.  This narrow genetic base was of particular concern in Thailand where in the late 1980s about 1 million hectares were planted to a single variety, Rayong 1.  Attempts to improve this variety by crossing with other local varieties were not very successful due to the lack of genetic variability within the available germplasm.  This changed in the early 1980s with the establishment of the CIAT Cassava Office in Asia and the introduction of large numbers of F1 hybrid seeds from the CIAT-Colombia cassava breeding program.  Since then, nearly half a million seeds have been introduced into various Asian cassava  3breeding programs, each seed with their own genetic make-up.  This has greatly widened the genetic base of cassava in Asia, and markedly speeded up the progress made in cassava breeding in the region.  These hybrid seeds were planted and evaluated; after passing through several stages of clonal propagation and selection, some of these were released as promising new varieties.  However, in most cases these promising new lines were further crossed with better-adapted local varieties to produce more F1 seeds for further selection.  Over the years Thailand has produced thousands of seeds from local varieties crossed with Latin American germplasm, which were evaluated and tested in numerous on-station and on-farm trials.  This eventually led to the release of 11 new high-yielding and high starch varieties.  Moreover, the Thai-CIAT breeding program, located at Rayong Field Crops Research Center (RFCRC), also contributed over 100,000 F1 hybrid seeds to other Asian cassava breeding programs, especially to Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and China.  Some of these were eventually selected and released as new varieties.  Table 1 shows the pedigree and the main features of the “CIAT-related” varieties that have now been released in six countries in Asia.  In addition, national breeding programs, especially in India and Indonesia, have released a large number of new varieties selected from their own local varieties, or produced through crossing or mutation breeding of indigenous cassava varieties.  Table 1. CIAT-related1) cassava varieties that have been released in Asia and their most important                 characteristics.   Country  Variety name Year of release Clonal code or pedigree Location of hybridization Main features Cambodia Malaysia -2) KM 94 = Kasetsart 50 KU High yield, high starch       China Nanzhi 188 1987 CM321-188 CIAT high yield  Nanzhi 199 1987 MPan 19 CIAT high yield, high starch  GR 891 1998 MCol 2215 CIAT high yield, high starch  GR 911 1998 MBra 35 x CM 523-7 CIAT high yield  SC 5 2002 ZM 9057 CATAS high yield  SC 6 2002 OMR 33-10-4 RFCRC high starch  SC 7 2005 ZM 8639 CATAS high yield  SC 8 2005 CMR38-120-10 RFCRC high yield       Indonesia Malang 1 1992 CM1015-19 x CM849-1 CIAT high yield, bitter  Malang 2 1992 CM922-2 x CM507-37 CIAT high yield, sweet  UJ 3 = Thai 2000 Rayong 60 RFCRC high yield, early bulking  UJ 5 = Kasetsart 2000 Kasetsart 50 KU high yield, high DM       Malaysia Perintis 1988 CM321-170 x MCol 1684 CIAT very high yield, low starch  MM 92 1992 CM1362-6 x CM586-1 CIAT early high yield, low starch  Sri Kanji 1 2003 Rayong 90 RFCRC high yield, rel. high starch  Sri Kanji 2 2003 OMR36-05-24 RFCRC high yield, rel. high starch  Sri Pontian 2003 SM1542-19 CIAT edible, for snack food       Philippines VC-1 1986 CM323-52 CIAT high yield  VC-2 1988 CMC 40 Brazil high yield, edible Table 1 (continued)   4 Country  Variety name Year of release Clonal code or pedigree Location of hybridization Main features  VC-3 1990 CM3590-1 CIAT dual purpose  VC-4 1990 CM4014-3 CIAT high yield, dual purpose  VC-5 1990 MCol 1684 Colombia high yield, bitter  PSB Cv-11 1995 CM3419-2A CIAT dual purpose  PSB Cv-12 1995 SM972-20 CIAT dual purpose  PSB Cv-15 1999 CM3422-1 CIAT dual purpose  PSB Cv-19 2000 SM808-1 CIAT mite resistant       Thailand Rayong 3 1983 MMex 55 x MVen 307 CIAT high starch  Rayong 2 1984 MCol 113 x MCol 22 CIAT for snack food  Rayong 60 1987 MCol 1684 x Rayong 1 RFCRC high early yield  Sriracha 1 1991 MCol 113 x MCol 22 x Rayong 1 KU high DM  Rayong 90 1991 CMC 76 x V 43=CMR21-1 RFCRC high DM, rel. high yield  Kasetsart 50 1992 R 1 x R 90=MKUC28-77-3 KU high yield, high DM  Rayong 5 1994 CMR27-77-10 x R 3=OMR25-105-112 RFCRC rel. high yield, high DM  Rayong 72 1999 R1 x R5 RFCRC high yield, high starch  Huay Bong 60 2003 R5 x Kasetsart 50 KU high yield, drought tol.  Rayong 7 2005 CMR35-64-1 RFCRC high yield, high starch  Rayong 9 2005 CMR35-48-196 RFCRC good for ethanol production       Vietnam KM 60 1993 Rayong 60 RFCRC high early yield  KM 94 1995 Kasetsart 50 KU high yield, high starch  SM937-26 1995 SM937-26 CIAT high yield, high starch  KM 95 1995 OMR33-17-15 RFCRC high yield; dual purpose  KM 95-3 1998 SM1157-3 RFCRC high yield; dual purpose  KM 98-7 1998 SM17-17-12 RFCRC High yield  KM 98-1 1999 R1 x R5 RFCRC high yield; dual purpose  KM 98-5 2005 Rayong 90 x KM 98-1 IAS High yield, dual purpose, short duration  KM 140 2005 KM 36 x KM 98-1 IAS High yield, dual purpose, short duration       1) Having germplasm from CIAT in one or both parents 2) Introduced from Vietnam in the eastern provinces and from Thailand in the west, but never officially      released   Adoption of New Cassava Varieties and their Economic Impact in Asia  Table 2 shows the total area under cassava according to FAO data and local estimates, as well as the area under newly released varieties in each country as estimated from surveys or local information.  In Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia most of the cassava area is now planted with new varieties, practically all containing some source of CIAT germplasm.  In India, on the other hand, the new varieties that were adopted in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, do not contain any CIAT germplasm.  In Indonesia several new varieties have been released but they are not yet widely adopted except for UJ 3 and UJ 5 in Lampung province of Sumatra island.  The Thai variety KU 50, released by Kasetsart University in 1992, is now grown under different names (KU 50, KM 94, UJ 5 or Kasetsart, and Malaysia) in about 887,000 ha in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia, corresponding to 25% of the whole cassava area in Asia.  This is probably the most widely grown and most successful cassava variety in the world.   5The adoption by farmers of this and other new varieties in Asia, coupled with improved cultural practices has had a profound impact on cassava yields and farmers’ income.  According to FAO data, cassava yields in Asia increased at an annual rate of 3.1% from 1996 to 2004, as compared to 1.8% in Latin America and 0.7% in Africa.  The average cassava yield in Asia in 2004 was 17.16 t/ha vs. 12.88 and 8.85 t/ha in Latin America and Africa, respectively.  Table 3 shows that the increases in cassava yields in Asia over the past decade, on average 4.23 t/ha, resulted in an annual increase in farmers’ gross income equivalent to 386 million US dollars.  Due to the development of new varieties and their widespread adoption by farmers, in combination with improved fertilization, erosion control and other agronomic practices, the livilihood and income of cassava farmers in Asia has markedly increased during the past decade.   Table 2. Total area under cassava and area under improved varieties in various countries                  in Asia in 2004.   Area under cassava (ha) Area under new varieties Area under “CIAT-related” varieties   ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Country FAO Local estimate (ha) (%) (ha) (%)        Cambodia 22,500 25,000 ~17,0001) ~68 ~17,000 ~68 China 240,115 <373,000 ~36,0002) ~10 ~12,000 ~3 India 270,000  ~102,5003) ~40 0 0 Indonesia 1,285,718  ~100,0004) ~8 ~100,000 ~8 Malaysia 38,000 3,970 <5    Philippines 180,000  ~18,0005) ~10 ~9,000 ~5 Thailand 1,050,000  1,000,000 95 1,000,000 95 Vietnam 370,500  250,0006) 67 250,000 67 Others 51,270             Total 3,508,103 ~1,523,505 43 ~1,388,000 40 1)  mainly KU 50 in Kampong Cham, Battambang and Kampong Speu provinces;     Ung Sopheap, personal information, 2006 2) about 1/3 are CIAT-related varieties 3) none are CIAT-related; personal information S. Ramanathan, Sept. 2005 4) mainly UJ 5 in Lampung; personal information J. Wargiono, Feb. 2004 5) about 1/2 are CIAT-related varieties 6) mainly KM 94 = KU 50; Kim et al.; 2005 and personal information Tran Ngoc Ngoan, 2005.    6Table 3. Estimation of the annual increase in gross income due to higher cassava yields                resulting from the adoption of new cassava varieties and improved practices,                 in China, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as in Asia as a whole.   Total    Cassava Increased gross  cassava Cassava yield (t/ha)1) Yield fresh root income due  area ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ increase price to higher yields Country (ha)1) 1994 2004 (t/ha) ($/tonne) (mil. US$)        China 250,767 15.22 16.81 1.59 27 10.8 Thailand 1,057,341 13.81 20.28 6.47 26 177.92) Vietnam 383,600 8.44 14.53 6.09 26 60.7        Asia total 3,510,532 12.93 17.16 4.23 26 386.1 1) Data from FAOSTAT for 2004. 2) In addition, farmers also benefited from higher prices due to higher starch content.     

CIAT initiatives on cassava improvement in Asia

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CIAT initiatives on cassava improvement in Asia

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