by Staff Writers St. Louis MO (SPX) Aug 09, 2012 An
international research collaboration recently demonstrated
progress in protecting cassava against cassava brown streak
disease (CBSD), a serious virus disease, in a confined field
trial in Uganda using an RNA interference technology. The field
trial was planted in November 2010 following approval by the
National Biosafety Committee of Uganda. The plants were
harvested in November 2011 and results were published in the
August 1, 2012 issue of the journal Molecular Plant Pathology .
These results point researchers in the right direction as they
develop virus-resistant cassava varieties preferred by farmers
in Eastern Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 250 million
people derive at least 25 percent of their daily calorie intake
from the starchy cassava tuberous roots. In the East African
countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda,
Burundi and Malawi, 63 percent of households also sell cassava
products to earn income for their families. It is