CBN-V Video Archives - S7-22
Cassava Development and Production in Congo

Ndombo Delo

Ministere de l’ Agriculture/PNR, PNR B.P 7248, Kinshash Gombe,
Democratic Republic of Congo mbokingai@yahoo.fr

        Cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz, is the most important food crop grown im Congo.  Land under cassava cultivation covers about  50% of those where all food crops are cultivated, with a total root production about 19.1 million tons. Its cultivation is mostly traditional with little modern technology.  The national average yield is still very low, apporximately 7 t/ha, because of the use of loal unimproved materials which are susceptible to biotic and abiotic contraints (diseases and pests, soil acidity and fertility) and poor management practices.  These yields are low when compared to those obtaned within experimental stations in  the country.  In Congo, cassava has been developed from introductions (seed and vegetative planting materials) obtained from other  countries and hybridizations or crosses between all these materials.  Cassava improvement programs have released numerous high–yielding varieties, well adapted to different ecologies: RAV (20-25 t/ha); SADISA (±30 t/ha); Mahungu (30 t/ha).  From IITA introduced tissue culture materials, the cassava program was able to select materials resistant to diseases and pests and has been used as major source of resistance.  Very recently, 200 clones from tissue culture materials were introduced and evaluated through the selection process.

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