Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is considered one of the most important economic crops with annual production of around 25 million tons. Cassava is grown not only as a subsistence crop by small farmers, but also as an agro-industrial crop with a well-developed industry and market. The starch-rich roots of cassava have been used as a raw material for producing a lot of high value-added products including starch, modified starch, sweeteners and derivatives for food and non-food applications.

"Manioc is the main source of calories for 800 million people worldwide. If we improve the cultivation, yields and marketing of cassava, it will help especially the poorest farmers and people” according to Dr. Tobias Wojciechowski and Prof. Uwe Rascher from the Institute for Bio- and Geowissenschaften (Plant Sciences).

In various parts of the world, different crops are staple foods as the basis of nutrition. A very important plant in this regard is cassava, also known as manioc, with distribution in 3 continents - (South) America, Africa and Asia. Among other things, it is the main source of carbohydrates/starch - similar to the potato in Northern Europe. Cassava is often grown by small and micro-farmers. As they have little access to large machines, sprays or fertilizers, the breeding of robust and optimized varieties is very important. This is why both the German Research Ministry BMBF and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation are actively supporting this research. The project work within the framework of Cassava Source-Sink (CASS)_ CASSAVASTORe aims to optimize the metabolic pathways to increase crop yields and demonstrate the success of breeding. The IBG-2 is working on optimizing the production and distribution of synthesis products in the leaves and the storage organs, the tubers, to provide better breeding varieties. This involves measuring breeding success using soil-based and drone-based surveying technologies and special camera systems ("phenotyping"). The measurement data is compared with the results of metabolic optimization.