Uirapuru, Ajubá, Sempre Pronto and Guapo: new sweet cassavas Epagri

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is grown in Brazil and gives rise to products and raw materials for various industrial processes. The hydrocyanic acid content in their fresh roots guides the use of the varieties for the production of
flour and starch or the consumption in the forms involving baking and “chips”. With presence in family farming, the sweet cassava has increased its relevance as a source of food, income and employment. The strong interaction of cassava plant with the environment makes difficult the supply of roots as required by the market, a reality that still worsens due to the different behaviors of numerous genotypes grown by farmers. This study evaluated sweet cassava genotypes derived from the Epagri’s gene bank in different environments of the Santa Catarina state, Brazil. Experiments were conducted in a randomized block
design with three replications in four agro-ecological zones and quantitative and qualitative indicators of each cultivar were evaluated. The SCS260 Uirapuru, SCS261 Ajubá, SCS262 Sempre Pronto and SCS263 Guapo are the most promising sweet cassava cultivars among the others evaluated from the Epagri’s BAG.