Cassava breeding is a time consuming process because cassava plants do not produce very many viable seeds and offspring from clonally propgated stem cuttings produce no new genetic variation. It can take more than 8 years to develop and release a new cassava variety. NextGen Cassava is seeking to use prediction models to speed up the process, so that plant breeders can make selections without having to grow plants to maturity in the field year after year.

NextGen is led by International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and National Root Crops Research Institute breeding centers in Nigeria, the National Crops Resources Research Institute in Uganda, Tanzania’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, the West African Centre for Crop Improvement in Ghana, Makerere University in Uganda, and the Boyce Thompson Institute, USDA-ARS, and the U.S. Department of Energy in the United States.

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