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International research network on bananas names CORBANA’s chief scientist its president for the next two years.
Corbana's Research Director becomes President of Musalac

The current Research Director of the Costa Rican banana producers’ association (CORBANA), Dr. Jorge Sandoval Fernández, has recently been appointed President of MUSALAC, the Plantain and Banana Research and Development Network for Latin America and the Caribbean. The appointment ceremony took place in Merida, Venezuela under the framework of the VIII meeting of the research network. Mr Sandoval will hold this position until 2011.

The appointment is a patent recognition to the research work that CORBANA has been performing for more than 29 years for the benefit of Costa Rican banana producers. “Costa Rica is one of the few examples worldwide of banana producers investing their own money in research. These research efforts have been strengthened through strategic partnerships with other renowned research institutes around the world”, says Jorge Sandoval.

Under Sandoval’s leadership, MUSALAC will focus on reviewing and defining the research priorities for the region and strengthening research synergies among members. The Latin American and Caribbean research network will also promote the circulation of findings from scientific research and will focus on research to reduce the use of pesticides in banana farming.

Sandoval completed his PhD at the University of Montpellier II, Sciences and Techniques and carried out his doctoral research at the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory of CIRAD, French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development. He also undertook a research internship at the Agriculture & Biotechnology Laboratory of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Seibersdorf, Austria.

Pioneering scientific research boosts productivity

As an example of the impact of scientific research on banana production, Mr Sandoval emphasises that banana research has contributed to achieve the world’s highest productivity per hectare in Costa Rica for 19 years. “This performance has a lot to do with CORBANA’s research endeavours and all our efforts to strengthen the links between research centres and pursue the objective of increasing productivity”, he says.

The Costa Rican banana industry has been vastly strengthened by banana research. For instance, CORBANA has built extensive laboratory facilities with services offered at cost; representing an important asset for producers. One of CORBANA’s latest research efforts is the launch of two new adjoined research facilities called the Biological Control Centre and the Banana Molecular Biology Centre. These centres, which represent an investment of more than US$1 million from funds donated by banana producers themselves, have been created to research ways to reduce the use of pesticides and promote the biological control of pests in banana production. CORBANA also contributes in an international research partnership to reduce the use of pesticides in banana farming by 50% in 10 year led by the Plant Research International of Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

Publication date: 9/2/2009

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