Danforth, MU to study and research cassava

Gene Stevens has a real-time weather station in his green house at the Delta Center in Portageville. The weather station was installed by Pat Guinan and John Travlos, MU Extension state climatologist and AgEbb systems administrator respectively, to monitor conditions for cassava and to check temperature at home on cold nights. Unlike the original MU weather stations the real-time weather station can give reports five minutes after the information is taken making it possible to check the temperature quickly from a distance. said.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, and the University of Missouri signed an agreement Feb. 1 for MU to study Danforth's research plantlets of cassava with the potential to be resistant to a mosaic disease.

The study is to be conducted by Gene Stevens, MU Extension plant scientist at Delta Center, Portageville, to plant, grow, propagate, test, and evaluate the engineered research cassava plantlets. He will also evaluate the agronomic properties and potential value of the cassava.

Cassava is a small South American woody shrub the roots of which are eaten like potatoes and used to make tapioca. It is also the third largest source of carbohydrates in the world for human food with Africa its largest center of production.