3 cassava varieties for bioethanol production

Three cassava varieties suited for bioethanol production have been bred by the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, Leyte.

The varieties–NSIC 2007 Cv-43, NSIC 2007 CV-44, and nsic 2007 CV-45–have been approved for industrial use by the National Seed Industry Council.

A scientific report on the new tubers, titled “New Cassava Varieties for Industrial Use”, was among the winners in the Best Paper Award given during the 2008 National Research Symposium (NRS) sponsored recently by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).

NRS is an annual competition organized by DA-BAR, currently headed by Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, that gives due recognition to outstanding researchers and their scientific works. It is participated in by DA bureaus and attached agencies and stage colleges and universities.

The new cassava varieties were the result of intensive studies done VSU researchers Algerico Mariscal, Reynaldo Bergantin, and Anita Troyo.

In their studies, the researchers subjected hybrid seeds developed through breeding works to a series of field trials, as follows: observational, single row, preliminary, general, advanced, and finally regional or multi-location trial before recommendation and release.

Results showed that the NSIC varieties are high-yielding with high starch contents and dry matter suited for industrial use such as for bioethanol production.

“They exhibited high degree of field resistance to spider mite and scale insects in cassava,” they also reported.

Similarly important, the varieties can be grown in all the country’s regions.

“Thus, it is recommended that the new cassava varieties be used as potential raw material for the production of bioethanol,” the researchers concluded. – Rudy A. Fernandez