Current situation of cassava in Vietnam and the selection of cassava materials derived from CIAT

Hoang Kim (1), Nguyen Van Bo, Reinhardt Howeler and Hernan Ceballos

ABSTRACT
In Vietnam, cassava is now the fourth most important food crop and an important source of cash income for small farmers, who either use it for animal feeding or for sale to starch factories. In 2006, cassava production was about 7.71 million tonnes, up from only 1.99 million tonnes in 2000. This was the result of both area expansion, from 237,600 ha in 2000 to 475,000 ha in 2006, and marked increases in yield, from 8.36 t/ha in 2000 to 16.25 t/ha in 2006. There are now 60 cassava starch factories in operation with a total processing capacity of 3.2-4.8 million tonnes of fresh roots/year. Vietnam has recently developed an E10 policy requiring the production of 100 to 150 million liters of fuel-ethanol from cassava per year. Vietnam is now the second largest exporting country of cassava products while animal feed factories also contribute significantly to the increasing demand for cassava roots.
Cassava yields and production in several provinces have more than doubled due to the planting of new high-yielding cassava varieties in about 350,000 ha, and the adoption of more sustainable production practices.
Since 2001-2007, a total of 24,073 cassava sexual seeds from CIAT and 37,210 seeds from 9-15 cross combinations made in Vietnam, 38 breeding lines (mainly from Thailand), and 31 local farmers’ varieties, have been planted. Of these, 98 of the best lines are now in the final stages of the selection process, and the most promising, KM140, has recently been released.

Key words: Cassava in Vietnam, Bio-fuel, cassava doubled haploid lines derived from CIAT

(1) Paper presented at Cassava meeting the challenges of the new millennium hosted by IPBO- Ghent University, Belgium 21-25 July 2008.