Tanzania’s Banana Growers Braced For Growing As IITA Sets To Release Maiden Hybrid Cooking Variety
Tanzania is heading towards recording the country’s first- ever milestone in banana production following envisaged plan for the introduction of the maiden hybrid seed variety for cooking Mchare.
Through a Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation- funded project, the Institute of International Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is executing a robust initiative to hybridize existing indigenous banana varieties.
Christened the Banana Breeding Network, the project is working to improve local banana varieties through conventional breeding, and its results are expected to help the sector carve out its own competitive niche in the global banana industry.
The new hybrid banana variety is currently undergoing the final stages of testing by the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI).
The testing is aimed at confirming its agronomic performance, adaptability, yield potential, disease resistance and other key characteristics under different growing conditions.
Furthermore, the improved hybrid undergoes on-farm trials with smallholder farmers, farmer assessments and sensory evaluations will be conducted to validate its performance, quality, and acceptability.
Once the evaluation is completed, the variety will be submitted to the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) for Distinctiveness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) testing and National Performance Trials (NPT).
These tests are essential for determining whether the variety meets the required standards for official registration and release to farmers.
Expressing optimism over the development, IITA Data Manager, Mr Stanley John Bayo, noted that the improvemt of the local seed varieties was carried out carefully to ensure the retention of the banana’s desirable qualities, including its aroma, taste, and fruits texture.
Bayo said the conventional breeding programme also aims to improve yield potential and enhance tolerance to major diseases.
“Apart from hatching the hybrid Mchare variety, the project has so far managed to develop at least for four improved banana varieties,” he said.
He disclosed that the varieties that have already registered and made available to farmers through the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) as TARIBAN 1, TARIBAN 2, TARIBAN 3, and TARIBAN 4.
“These improved cooking varieties are tolerant to major banana pests and diseases and have high yield potential, capable of producing between 40 to 65 tonnes per acre per year, compared to traditional the landrace varieties that produce only 10 to 15 tonnes,” he detailed.
However, he said the new Mchare cooking banana variety has recorded a 65 percent increase yield potential, adding that it will play a significant role in boosting once finally approved.
Bayo observed that research on banana is relatively more complex and time-consuming than research on many other crops, and commended the project’s funders for their financial support.
He also acknowledged the timely-hearted cooperation and other valuable support the initiative has received from university researchers and the Government of Tanzania.
“Our research laboratories and experimental farms are based at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha,” he added.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit agricultural research organisation founded in 1967.
Headquartered in Ibadan, Nigeria, it operates regional hubs across Africa, including its Eastern Africa regional hub in Tanzania, with the mission of reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty through improved crop productivity and sustainable farming practices.
In Tanzania, cultivation of banana is highly done in the regions of Kagera, Mbeya, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Morogoro, Kigoma.
” Banana thrives well in areas receiving 1,000–2,000 mm of rainfall annually, provided the rainfall is well distributed throughout the year,” he observed.
The project incorporates rolling out of key training to farmers on the recommended practices.