Abstract

Cassava bacterial blight (CBB) is rife in all production areas in Burkina Faso. The use of resistant varieties is known as the best control against this disease. Our objective is to identify resistant varieties within a collection of local and introduced cassava varieties in Burkina Faso. Eleven varieties of cassava were screened in the field for two successive years using a randomized block of Fisher design with three repetitions. Disease severity was collected monthly during the wet season. The results indicate that all cassava varieties exhibited symptoms with varying incidence levels and an average severity rate of 8.48%. The V8 (Chair jaune) and V10 (4(2)1425) varieties were resistant regardless of growing season. However, varieties V5 (91/02312), V11 (Locale Santidougou), V1 (94/0270) and V7 (92/0325) were the most susceptible. Cassava varieties, evaluated under irrigated growing conditions, will be tested in a rainfed cropping system that ensures national cassava production. In addition to their susceptibility to cassava bacterial blight, other biotic contraints including viral and fungal diseases will be evaluated. However, the high-performance varieties will be disseminated according to their adaptability to the different agro-ecological areas and can be used in varietal breeding program.

Key words: Cassava, Resistance, Xanthomonas phaseoli pv. manihotis.