Discovering Characteristics and Photosynthesis Rates of African Cassava Cultivars

Abstract

An estimated 795 million people around the world are food insecure.
The majority of these people are in Sub-Saharan Africa,
Asia, and South America where cassava is a major food crop.
Cassava, grown mainly by poor family farmers, can be grown in
poor soils, is drought tolerant, and has a high yield potential.
There is a direct correlation between increased photosynthetic
rate and an increase in yield. Our, goal is to determine the photosynthetic
rate of African cassava cultivars for further improvement.
If successful, we hope to increase cassava yield to decrease
global food insecurity.