Banana breeding is challenging, slow, and expensive. To support the breeding program, genetics studies are being conducted, and IITA is investing in biotechnology approaches to banana improvement.

How can the banana industry help propel Africa’s development? The banana strategy points out what is in store for African banana.

IITA scientist Thomas Dubois did a SWOT analysis to determine what ingredients are needed for the banana tissue culture industry to succeed.

Molecular geneticist Leena Tripathi provides an update on a collaborative work to develop a high-value product—the transgenic banana.

IITA scientists have devised an easy method of killing nematodes, which cause annual losses of millions of dollars, in banana suckers—immersing them in boiling water for 20-30 seconds!

Banana/Plantain Breeder Bi Irie Vroh explains how IITA produces clean planting materials of banana for distribution to partners.

Crop scientists have successfully transferred genes from green pepper to banana that enable the crop to resist the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW). BXW or bacterial wilt is one of the most devastating diseases of banana in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It causes about half a billion dollars worth of damage yearly.

Representatives from the banana research and industry from all over Africa had an excellent meeting in Kenya in October 2008. The ambition to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap that would harmonize and guide efforts to promote the marketing and trade of the crop in the continent has been kick-started with contributions of key players in the banana world and critical reviewers. The prospects look promising and further details will be released post-conference.

About 87% of all the bananas grown worldwide is produced by small-scale farmers for local consumption as a food security crop, and for local markets than for international trade. They provide a staple food for millions of people, particularly in Africa.

“I like the applied and hands-on work” says award winning IITA scientist Thomas Dubois…