Scientists find ways to improve cassava, a 'crop of inequality’ featured at Goalkeepers

As world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly, hundreds of emerging leaders focus on fighting global inequality at the third annual Goalkeepers event in New York City hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Among them, University of Illinois scientist Amanda De Souza highlighted a crop of inequality called cassava, a starchy, tropical root crop that sustains more than 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa but has been largely neglected by research and development compared to other staple crops. Today, De Souza and a team from Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) published a study in New Phytologist that identified an opportunity to increase cassava yields.
Published paper: doi.org/10.111...
News release: bit.ly/2Awm9ib
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Previously, in a Tansley Review published in New Phytologist, De Souza and team found that the average yield of this starchy staple food crop has not significantly increased since 1961 -- but there are major opportunities to increase yields by improving photosynthesis:
Published paper: doi.org/10.111...
News release: bit.ly/2PPx6Ej