A new high yielding banana variety was launched at the Nelson Mandela University in Arusha City on Monday May 23. The hybrid variety, Tariban, is expected to have a 30 percent higher yield compared to the current ones, grown chiefly by smallholder farmers.
Tariban, like other varieties of the same crop, has been developed under the Breeding Better Bananas project hosted at the pan African university. It is being implemented in Tanzania and Uganda, the leading banana producers in Africa, through the support of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
The project, according to IITA, aims to develop new high yielding hybrid banana varieties with resistance to pests and diseases. The breeding programme, now underway in Tanzania and Uganda, fortifies resistance against pests and diseases but maintains the traits enjoyed by consumers.
Source: thecitizen.co.tz