Resource information
The Thai cassava production and processing industry heavily depends on the export market, mainly the European Economic Community (EEC). With the anticipated removal of the preferential tariff treatment of Thai tapioca to the EEC, a lower level of importation and/or lower prices for Thai cassava products are imminent. Thai government policy is to reduce the cassava-planted area and help farmers increase productivity. In response to this situation, higher yielding cultivars with higher starch content in the roots are required. A promising approach to achieving this goal is to create broad genetic variability by introducing cassava germplasm from abroad, and recombining desirable characters into new high-yielding varieties. In the near future, 600 accessions, comprising the CIAT cassava core collection, will be introduced to Thailand in the form of in vitro culture. This will make available to Asian cassava breeders a good representation of the total genetic diversity found in cassava. These accessions will be subcultured to increase the number of plants per accession. Several plants will be evaluated in the field and field data collected. At least 2 ha will be required for this purpose. In order to provide security of planting material during the establishment period, five test tubes of each clone will be routinely maintained under minimal growth conditions in the laboratory, using Roca`s method. After about 5 years these accessions will be available to other national breeding programs and exchanged by means of in vitro plantlets
