New industrial cassava cultivars diversify starch production in Central Brazil

A Embrapa Cerrados (DF) launches this Tuesday (14/09), at 14pm, at an event Online No. Embrapa channel on YouTube, cassava cultivars for the flour and starch industry BRS 417, BRS 418 e BRS 419, the first specially developed for the conditions of the Cerrado of Central Brazil. 

They stand out for their high starch productivity – up to 30% higher than that of the most planted cultivar in the region –, for their favorable architecture for cultural treatments and mechanized planting due to the higher height of the plants and the first branch, as well as for their moderate resistance. bacteriosis, the main crop disease in the Biome. 

The result of participatory genetic improvement research initiated in 2012 and involving cassava farmers, cooperatives and rural extensionists from different starch production centers in the Cerrado, the materials will contribute to improving cassava production systems in the region, in addition to enabling greater diversification of cultivars used by producers.

BRS 417 has roots with a layout and size that facilitate mechanized harvesting. In the experiments, it obtained an average root productivity of 38.005 kg/ha, a percentage of starch in the roots of 31,53% and a starch yield of 11.984 kg/ha. 

With the potential to be used in crops aimed at using the vigorous aerial part, rich in leaves and petioles, in animal feed, BRS 418 obtained an average root productivity of 38.940 kg/ha, a percentage of starch in the roots of 32,35% and starch yield of 12.651 kg/ha in the experiments. 

BRS 419, due to its high rusticity, can be used in policies aimed at developing the cassava starch and flour production chain, focusing on producers with less access to technology. It presented an average root productivity of 42.010 kg/ha, a percentage of starch in the roots of 30,29% and a starch yield of 12.870 kg/ha. 

“These are materials that will add technological characteristics to cassava production systems, such as facilitating mechanized planting, which reduces the use of labor, in addition to increasing starch productivity per hectare and facilitating cultural treatments, such as application of herbicides, second cycle fertilization and pruning. All of these characteristics directly contribute to reducing production costs”, says researcher Eduardo Alano Vieira. 

Alano's colleague, researcher Josefino Fialho, believes that the producer will be able to choose the materials according to the production system. “Those who basically had one cultivar and local varieties now have three new options. They are different materials and can be used to maintain the genetic variability of crops. Our recommendation is: plant all three, test them in your conditions and decide which ones to keep.”

Alano believes that the new cultivars should promote other positive impacts on the region's production systems. “There is currently no market for the commercialization of certified seed cassava. And the new clones have a higher seed multiplication rate – one plant of the most planted cultivar yields five new plants, while one plant of the new materials produces at least ten new plants. It is easier to disseminate these materials by developing the seed cassava trade”, he explains.

In the second half of 2020, Embrapa made propagative material of the cultivars available to companies producing seed cassavas and micropropagated seedlings through a public offering. “As we bring together licensees to sell these materials, we will give the producer the option of purchasing a seedling of superior genetic quality, free from pests and diseases,” says Fialho.