The East African Banana Research Steering Committee visited Mbarara ZARDI on 03rd July 2024. The exchange visit included members from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC and Burundi. The team is comprised of Banana researchers from the mentioned countries who are chaired Prof Roy Swenen. The chair was represented by Dr. Micheal Batte from IITA, Uganda.
The purpose of this exchange visit was to explore and benchmark banana research in Uganda. The visit which started with a tour of National Agricultural Research Labaratoroes also covered Mbarara ZARDI and some farms in Sheema District. They noted that in while in the laboratories, they saw the breeding process of new varieties, they had come to see the performance of these varieites in the institues and on the farm.
During their exploration of Mbarara ZARDI’s banana experiments, the team interacted closely with researchers and technicians from Mbarara ZARDI. They held a meeting where Dr Peace Kankwasa, the Plant Pathologist at Mbarara ZARDI brought them up to speed with the banana research going on at the Institute.
The national coordinator for Banana Research in Tanzania Mpoki Shimwela stated that they had so far released four Narita varieties and they were evaluating Naroban 1, 2, 3, 4 and Narita 22 for release.
We have been evaluating the five banana varieties since 2021 and we are set to release them this year. Narita 22 specifically scored highly in taste and ease of preparation. It was highly favored by the participants.
Dr. Mpoki Shimwela said that they were waiting on Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCA) to give them a go ahead to release these varieties. He also observed that the yield and preference of some varities differed between Uganda and Tanzania.
The team later visited some banana farms in Sheema district. These are the on farm trial sites for new banana varieties. The team proceeded to Bukoba, Tanzania as a continuation of the exchange visit.