Maruthi, M.N. ORCID: 0000-0002-8060-866X, Kimata, Bernadetta, Masinde, Emily A. and Mkamilo, Geoffrey (2020) Effect of time of harvesting and disease resistance in reducing Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) yield losses by two viral diseases. Modern Concepts & Developments in Agronomy, 6 (1):MCDA.000628. pp. 606-616. ISSN 2637-7659 (doi:https://doi.org/10.31031/MCDA.2020.06.000628)

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Abstract

Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) are two important biotic constraints for cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) production in Eastern and Southern Africa. CMD causes a general decline in yield in affected plants of susceptible cassava varieties but CBSD causes rotting of edible roots. Delayed harvesting can increase rotting of roots and making them unfit for consumption or marketing, and thus affecting the livelihoods of poor farmers. This study investigated the effect of interaction between time of harvesting and levels of disease resistance to identify ideal harvesting times for reducing yield losses. The resistant cassava variety Namikonga remained in the field for the duration of the study, up to 24 months after planting without incurring significant yield losses, while the tolerant varieties Kiroba and Kizimbani could only be maintained up to 21 months. Susceptible varieties Mreteta and Albert suffered significant yield losses beyond 15 months. Among the varieties, Kizimbani had the least CBSD and CMD foliar symptoms as well as farmer desirable traits including high root weight, quantity of marketable roots and dry matter content. Harvesting of cassava can depend on the resistance or susceptibility of the varieties grown. Therefore, the above harvesting times for different varieties were recommended for minimizing yield losses due to the diseases and thus maximizing yields to the farmers.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Copyright@ Midatharahally N Maruthi, This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Africa, cassava, food security, diseases, CMD, CBSD, yield loss
Subjects:	S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) S Agriculture > SB Plant culture
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Agriculture, Health & Environment Department Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Plant Health Research Group
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2023 08:13
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/29656

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