Farmers in Embu, Kirinyaga, Murang’a to get hybrid green banana varieties

Summary : In Kenya, bananas are the fourth most produced crop after sugar cane, maize and potatoes and the third most important food after maize and rice. The annual production is 1.5 million tonnes, which is lower than that in Uganda and Tanzania at 4.4 million and 4 million tonnes, respectively.

March 2021
Mary Mwangi, a scientist at Kenyatta University, observes The NARITA hybrid highland bananas are now flowering, as expected,  exactly 9 months after planting in the field. These high-yielding, disease and stress-resistant varieties jointly developed between NARO and IITA are now being used in Kenya in the frame of the LEAP-Agri CLISMABAN project. Prof. Grace Wamue Ngare and Mary Mwangi are in parallel working on a gender-responsive acceptance of these bananas by farmers and consumers. We hope to see these bananas very soon on the market.